


And they will get love

by Digi_BlueFox



Series: Adopting Yakko, Wakko and Dot [2]
Category: Animaniacs
Genre: Andy has dog tendencies, But with good reason, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, Kassie has cat tendencies, Light Angst, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible OOCness, These children deserve better, Warner siblings can purr, and I don't care because screw canon, just maybe not right away
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27869842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Digi_BlueFox/pseuds/Digi_BlueFox
Summary: Now that Kassie has basically (unofficially) adopted the Warner siblings, a new challenge awaited her and her boyfriend.Discovering how to be parents to kids who are taught that it's bad to be themselves.Meanwhile, the Warner siblings are slowly allowing themselves to be zany again.Aka: Yakko, Wakko and Dot being treated the way they deserve to be treated. With love!
Relationships: Dot Warner & Wakko Warner & Yakko Warner, Original Male Character(s)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Adopting Yakko, Wakko and Dot [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2040422
Comments: 24
Kudos: 136





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, since writing that first story, I kinda got this sleuth of ideas rushing through my head on what to write next.  
> At first I was planning on leaving this a stand-alone story, but I liked the idea of the Warners having an actual family too much. Of course like all families it isn't going to be all rainbows and sunshine, but I'll let you find out 😉  
> Don't worry, nothing too dramatic.
> 
> Also, a little backstory on that New-Toon Syndrome from the first story. I’ve read a lot of people’s fanfics and tumblr posts where the Warners have autism, and I liked that idea. So I thought ‘Huh, what if that’s the reason they’re so insane-y?’.  
> Then I had another thought. ‘What if toons have their own form of autism?’ And so the idea of NTS was born.  
> Except when I started writing the specifics of NTS it ended up pretty different from actual autism, so... whoops xD  
> It is going to be a big part of this story, so if you don't like it... Sorry?
> 
> Edit: Made slight adjustments to the NTS book part. I forgot I my story took place in a different time period and I've been made aware that autism was thought of differently back in the day. So I hope this fits better with that time period.

Thinking back on it, Kassie may have made a mistake. Staring blankly at the paperwork Plotz had shoved at her, thinking about the events that unfurled in the last few hours.

Yeah. She definitely made a mistake.

Oh, no. Not taking the Warner siblings under her care! There was no mistake at all in taking them from that abusive environment. The mistake was-

“Hey! Get off me you damn monkey-kid!”

Kassie sighed. Taking the public transit bus…. That’s the mistake. Though in her defense, she didn’t know she would be taking three children home that day! Her boyfriend had to use the car that morning to get to work, so that hadn’t been an option. Sure, she could’ve gotten a lift from a friend, but she didn’t know how long the interview - Blegh, the idea of her ever having wanted to work there made her sick - would take, and she didn’t want to bother them.

So public transit it was.

Except now she had three children who had very clearly never seen beyond the studio lot.

She was pulled back from her thoughts when one of the siblings plopped down beside her. Wakko. He must be the one the lady just yelled at.

“Is everything alright, Wakko?” she asked softly.

She noticed how Wakko flinched away and had to force down a growl. No. Wakko had been in the wrong here. He can’t just jump on people’s laps.

“Hey, it’s okay.” she spoke again. “I know you’re curious, sweetie, but you can’t just jump into people’s lap like that, okay?”

Wakko kept staring at his feet. Clearly he’d crept back into his shell again. Kassie looked over her shoulder for the other two. They were still as excited and energetic as Wakko had been 2 minutes ago. The brother and sister were bouncing from chair to chair, looking out every window at the view that passed them. Oh, it was so painfully obvious they’d never seen the world before. They were just lucky that there were barely any people taking the bus at this moment.

The newly-assigned (read: forced Plotz to make her their-) caretaker lightly tapped Wakko’s arm, trying to ignore how he pulled away. “Wanna switch seats? You’ll have that nice window view.”

Wakko just lifted his head to look at her. Without waiting for an answer, Kassie stood up, allowing Wakko to crawl from his seat to hers as she took the isle seat.

Keeping her ears open for the bouncing duo, she kept her eyes on the middle child. (Well, she assumed Wakko was the middle child, she hadn’t really gotten around to ask.) He was on his knees on the seat, hands pressing against the window. Pretty soon his smile returned as he stuck his tongue out again in that happy manner.

Kassie let out a sigh of relief. She gave Yakko and Dot one more reminder to not bother the other passengers, thanking her lucky stars that she was almost home. That _they_ were almost home.

_~One walk from the bus-stop later~_

Kassie had never been more relieved to be home. The bus-ride had been fine for the most part… If you didn’t count the man who came in the stop before hers and screamed at the children to behave. Like, literally screamed, including words she wasn’t about the repeat. Sufficed to say Yakko, Wakko and Dot were back to the scared kids she found in the tower. Just when they made progress too.

Swinging the door open, she didn’t waste any time leading the kids over to the couch. They’d stayed quiet the entire walk home and, from what she read from Plotz’s papers, that wasn’t exactly normal. Especially not for Yakko.

The cat toon knelt down to their eye level. “Are you three alright? You’ve been awfully quiet.” Neither sibling answered. So that was probably a no. “Listen, I know it’s probably not easy right now. I’m not gonna push you, but I will be right here when you want to talk, okay?”

Kassie jumped up from her knelt-down position. Checking the clock, she saw it was already past 12pm. “Well, I think it’s about time for some lunch, wouldn’t you say?”

The Warner siblings looked up at her in surprise. They got a say in that here? The executives always just locked them out of the cafeteria whenever it was lunchtime on set. Their surprise must have been apparent as Kassie’s face fell.

“Alright, I have to ask this.” she said in a manner that made it clear she didn’t want to ask. “When was the last time you actually ate something?”

“…I don’t know…” Yakko uttered after a moment of silence. “Before we got locked up, at least.”

Kassie took a deep breath. That was pretty bad. They were lucky to be toons, or they’d be-… “Well, that won’t do.” Kassie walked around the couch to go to the kitchen. “You three sit tight. I’m going to make you some lunch.”

She turned on the radio for the kids before retreating into the kitchen. First thing she did was grabbing the phone off the wall and dialing a friend of hers.

‘ _Hello, Vicky Lynn_ _e_ _speaking.’_ a familiar cheery voice sounded over the line.

“Hey Vicky. It’s Kassie.” Kassie tried to sound casual. “I had a question. Do you still have that book our creator gave you?”

‘ _Which one? The one on_ _syndromes and disabilities_ _in toons, or the one on_ _common illnesses and how to treat them toon edition?’_

“The first one.”

Meanwhile the Warner brothers and sister were staying still in the living room, itching to do something. Sitting still was a pain. Why sit still when there’s so much to do? But at the same time, they didn’t want to get into trouble.

It was nice being free from the water tower, and it was nice of that lady to bring them to her home. But they didn’t know this place. At the studio, when they ‘misbehaved’ they knew exactly what was going to happen. But here? What would this stranger do if they ‘misbehaved’? Not to mention, how could they stop ‘misbehaving’ if they didn’t even know what they were doing wrong?

After what seemed like forever, Kassie finally emerged from the kitchen several plates, bowls and glasses in her arms and tail. Luckily nothing fell, mostly due to toon-powers, as she set it all on the table. There were 3 plates with pancakes, a small bowl of fruit for each and a glass of juice.

“I may have made a little much, but you don’t need to eat everything. Just eat what you can.” Kassie told them. “Well, dig in.”

And dig in they did. The trio was scarfing down the food in record speed, leaving the adult toon to tell them to ‘take it easy before they choke’. As Kassie went back to the kitchen to grab the leftover fruit, which was just half an apple, the front-door opened.

A light-gray furred dog toon walked in, his snout deep in the papers he was reading. Kassie stepped out of the kitchen to greet him. “Hi Andy. How was work?”

The dog, Andy, barely looked up from the papers as he kissed Kassie on the cheek. “Hello dear. Work was good. New song to practice. Gotta go.” he all said in a hurry. He walked passed the couch, absentmindedly petting Yakko on the head. “Hey kiddo.” he said in the same hurried tone, before walking into another room, closing the door behind him.

While Yakko looked in confusion about what just happened, Kassie just shook her head fondly. She held up her hand, counting down from three.

3…2…1…

Right on cue the door was ripped open by a disheveled dog. “Wait- Kiddo?!” His eyes then fell on Wakko and Dot. “Three kiddos?!”

He locked eyes with Kassie, who chuckled sheepishly. “Surprise?”

Which is how Kassie found herself in the music room with her very confused boyfriend

“How?! What?! Who?!” Andy sighed, pinching his snout. “What is going on?”

Kassie fidgeted with her hands. “Well, to keep a long story short. I demanded to be their caretaker after freeing them from the water tower at Warner.”

Andy cocked his head. “Wait, what? Why?”

“You should have seen it, Andy.” Kassie sighed. “The people had them locked up in there! I couldn’t just… I couldn’t just leave them there.”

“Kassandra…” The cat flinched. Full names didn’t usually bode well. “Honey, I know how you feel about children. Are you sure you didn’t overreact?”

It was a fair question. Due to her inability to have children of her own, Kassie did tend to be very protective of other kids. But this had been different.

“Andrew… I’m sure.” was Kassie’s answer. “Yakko, Wakko and Dot were locked in that water tower for 13 years at least. All because the executives failed to take time to understand them and their behavior!” The woman took a couple deep breaths to calm her rising anger. “They have NTS.”

“New-Toon Syndrome?” Andy asked bewildered.

Kassie nodded. “Yeah. And instead of receiving help, they would get thrown aside or locked up every time they ‘misbehaved’.”

“So they have no idea.” Andy’s eyes widened in disbelieve. “All they know is hat they’re punished for-…” He couldn’t finish that sentence.

Kassie nodded solemnly. “For being themselves.”

This time Andy’s hackles rose as the reality of the situation became clear. “I’m calling TPS.”

“Don’t!” his girlfriend was quick to stop him. “Please, I know this is bad, but I made a deal. The studio only cares about money, and the kids are still making them money from loan-outs. If we call now, they can sue us and get custody of the kids back.”

The couple stood in that room in silence for a while. Finally Andy turned around and embraced his girlfriend.

“We won’t lose them, Kass.” he said, soothingly. “We won’t. I promise.”

* * *

Leaving Andy in the music room to work his emotions out, Kassie went back to ~~her~~ the kids. They were still in the living room, sitting near motionless on the couch again.

‘ _Well, of course. Acting zany like they used to has only ever gotten them locked up.’_ A voice in the back of her head whispered.

Kassie shook it off. Not anymore. These kids were gonna get the treatment they deserve. But first…they were gonna get a bath.

Yakko, Wakko and Dot were pretty confused when Kassie took them to a room. They were even more confused when she asked them to take their clothes off. For as long as they existed, they’ve always taken baths with their clothes on.

Still, they weren’t exactly eager to find out what Kassie’s punishment for ‘misbehaving’ might be, so they complied, even taking off their gloves which was a first. They watched as the cat left the room with the clothes, bathwater still running, and came back a few minutes later.

On her say so, they entered the bath, which was just big enough for all three of them. It was surprisingly nice, especially the bubbles! Dot cupped a handful of foam in her hands…and promptly dumped it on Wakko’s head. As her older brother went cross-eyed to follow the foam go down his face, Dot burst out in giggles.

Naturally, a bubble fight ensued. Water and foam splashed over the tub as she siblings tried to cover each other in bubbles, all the while laughing happily.

A fourth laughter joined them, reminding the Warners about the other toon in the room. Looking over at the woman, they found her soaked as well. Another victim of their water fight.

“It’s good to see you three enjoying yourselves.” she said.

That was not the usual response they got when they made a mess. “Sorry about your clothes.” Yakko apologized.

Kassie just waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t going into this expecting to stay dry.” she reassured them. “But I do think we should get you three cleaned up, shouldn’t we?”

Reluctantly, the brothers and sister let Kassie scrub them down with shampoo. The touching felt uncomfortable to Yakko, but the feeling of muck and grime leaving his fur was great. Besides, his sibs seemed to enjoy Kassie’s help, so he could live with it.

A nice, long bath later and the Warners were wrapped into warm, fluffy towels and dried off. Kassie suggested the hair dryer, but only Dot seemed to enjoy that. After that all that was left to do was brush their fur, which Kassie left them to do themselves while she left the room.

While brushing Wakko’s back, Yakko decided to drop the question that had been on his mind. “What do you think of her?”

His siblings froze for a moment, knowing who their brother meant. “Well… She seems nice.” Dot replied. “She didn’t even get mad when we soaked her with water.”

“Yeah. And she didn’t tell us to stop, or yell at us.” Wakko added.

The older sibling nodded. “Yeah, I guess.” he muttered. He just couldn’t help but worry. What if she was behind that door, grinning at the camera like a villain because it was all some act? What if her punishments were worse?

His thoughts were interrupted by the bathroom door opening. Kassie came in, wearing different clothes now, and she’d brought their soaked clothes too. All it took was some good old toon logic, wringing them out above the bathtub and the clothes were dry as a cork.

* * *

When they came back downstairs, Kassie found a bag of toys in the living room as well as a book on the couch that wasn’t there before.

‘ _Ah. Vicky must’ve brought what I asked for, but what’s with the toys?’_ Kassie wondered.

Kassie picked up the book from the couch, finding a note stuck to it.

‘ _I know you only asked for the book.’_ it read. ‘ _But here’s some toys my nephew doesn’t play with anymore. You’ll need it_ 😉 _’_

Sure enough, when she looked back to the bag she found a certain trio looking and poking at it. She couldn’t help but smile at ~~her~~ _the_ curious little monkeys.

“You can play with those, you know?” Her voice startled the trio back from the bag, until her words registered. “Go ahead. But try not to break anything, or hurt each other.”

While they dove for the bag, grabbing whatever they could lay their hands on, Kassie sat down on the couch to read the book. “Here goes nothing.”

‘NTS and how to help someone with it.’

‘ _New-Toon syndrome (NTS), named that way due to it being noticed in newer toons far easier than in older toons, is a condition which distorts a toon's sense of reality. Though it is mostly discovered in new toons, it is present in older toons as well, simply discovered late._

_Other names for it might be: Reality Distortion Disorder (RDD),_ _or simply Toon-Autism, which some prefer to call it, though it does seem to differ from the human equivalent.'_

‘ _These toons may believe the world they were created for is real and will act accordingly to their world's rules. In other milder cases of NTS, the toon may simply have trouble distinguishing the line between their reality and ours.’_

Kassie nodded along with the book. She couldn’t quite tell where the Warner sibling fell on that spectrum yet. Though she was hoping they were simply having trouble seeing the line.

‘ _NTS_ _is a developmental issue._ _Literally. T_ _heir creator have usually not finished developing their character, backstory or abilities and/or purpose for said abilities completely before bringing the toon to life. That is why it is recommended by professionals to write all important information down on either their origin sheet (the sheet of paper the toon's official design was first drawn on) or a separate sheet to attach to the origin sheet before bringing the toon to life.’_

‘ _A creator's messy head may lead to a toon's messy mind.’_

Oh how she wished to throw this book in Plotz’s face right now and shove all the blame of the siblings’ insanity on their creator. Then again, according to the papers he gave her their creator was already driven to insanity, so maybe not…

‘ _NTS is therefore not curable as it is not a disease._ _ However there exists special treatments to help a toon manage it, as treatments used for humans don't usually work on toons. For extreme cases, such as where the toon fully lives in their own toony world, it is recommended to seek professional help. They are much more capable of dealing with such behavior. _

_However, mild cases are treatable at home if you so prefer.’_

Yes, she preferred. Skipping ahead to the chapter that talked about the treatment for children, she resumed reading.

‘ _How to treat a child toon with NTS:’_

‘ _ **\- Sit them down and explain the situation.**_

_Toons with NTS do not know they have it. They fail to understand that their world view is any different from other toons. Explain it to them calmly and in a manner that they'll understand best._

_Be patient with them too. Remember that their entire world view is being turned upside down. It might take a while for them to understand it._

_Answer their questions in an equally calm and patient manner. It takes more than just one explanation for them to grasp the reality of their condition. Make them feel safe. Children have an especially hard time coming to terms with their condition. Ensure them that having NTS does not mean there's something wrong with them, despite what they might think.’_

Kassie winced. She was gonna have to do this soon, wasn’t she? Looking up from her book, she saw the children playing some sort of game involving a soccer ball, pirate’s sword and dolphin plushy.

Their happy smiles calmed her nerves enough to continue reading. This was for them after all.

‘ _ **-Help them distinguish realities.**_

_Whenever they have a_ _film-shoot_ _, be present to help them distinguish the line between worlds. Be sure to teach them the cue wor-’_

And skip. This was clearly for the directors.

‘ _ **\- Play pretend.**_

_As silly as it may sound, play-pretend has been proven to help. Not only does it encourage the child to enter their own world, but by setting a time limit it'll also teach them when it is time to step out of their world. After a certain amount of time you could even ask the child to cut playtime short. It will show the progress they've made.’_

Well, as observed earlier, the kids certainly had no shortage of imagination. Play pretend shouldn’t be too hard.

‘ _ **\- Don't be too quick to punish.**_

_Mistakes are bound to happen when they're in their own world. They might not realize they've made a mistake. If they don't, then don't just throw around punishments willy-nilly. That will just distress the child, as they don't understand what they did to deserve punishment._

_Take the time to talk to them, tell them what they did wrong. When they understand what they did wrong, give a light punishment if you really deem it necessary, for example; cleaning up their mess, or sitting in the corner for a short few minutes._

_If the child does understand that they did something wrong, that is great. They know to pull themselves out of their world._ _F_ _or punishments, the same as above goes.’_

‘ _ **\- Remain patient.**_

_NTS is something toons will struggle with their entire lives. The right treatment might help them to see the line between realities better, but that doesn't mean they always will. There will be moments where they relapse, when it's hard to pull them out of their world._

_Just be patient. That is the most important thing.’_

* * *

While Kassie had been engrossed in her book, the Warners took to scavenging the bag for the best toys. There were balls, plushies of all kinds, jump-rope, some yo-yos even a plastic sword. How could they not play with them?

As Yakko held mermaid-princess Dot and her loyal dolphin companion captive on his pirate ship, Wakko snuck up on him with his ball friend. The royal taste-tester of the underwater world couldn’t let this pirate get away with kidnapping their princess.

Even though the princess liked the idea of being on display for all the world to see her cuteness, she didn’t really agree on the tank part. Water made her skin so wrinkly. Why else would she constantly go up to the surface? She looked behind her captor and saw one of her loyal servants. She was saved!

Right when Yakko was about to try and convince the princess with his famous tickle torture, he noticed her looking passed him. When he turned around he found Wakko standing there.

“Ah. So the royal servant came to save his princess, did he?” Yakko taunted lightly.

“Yes he did. I mean- I did.” Wakko said, brandishing his weapon. “Free the princess, tickle pirate!”

Not waiting for an answer, Wakko threw the ball at his older brother. The eldest sibling dodged and ran away. “Hey! This isn’t dodge-ball!” he joked.

The younger siblings took that as their cue to start a game of dodge-ball and started throwing balls at Yakko as he ran away. He was dodging the balls like a pro, but one ball from Wakko came dangerously close to his face. Out of instinct he swung with the sword, managing to hit the ball and save himself a bruised face.

_*Tink*_ ***Crash***

Yakko’s sigh of relief was cut short as he and his sibs froze. That was not a good sound. That was the sound of something breaking. Sure enough, when they reluctantly looked over to where the sound came from, they found a shattered vase, a puddle of water and scattered flowers.

They broke something. Kassie told them not to break something and they broke something!

‘ _ **Look at all the damage you caused!!’**_ Yakko flinched at the memory of Plotz yelling at them through a toon-proof net. **‘** _ **Do you know how much that’s going to cost us?! That’s it! Lock those menaces up! I never want to see their faces again!’**_

When Kassie found the trio they were curled up close, bushy tails hiding between their legs as an obvious sign of fright. Not wanting to startle them even more, she knelt down in front of them before she spoke.

This was it. The siblings pushed as close together as they could. This was where they were gonna get in trouble for breaking another prop…

“Is anyone hurt?”

Too startled by the unexpected question the siblings were stunned quiet. They were still shaking, expecting an explosion of rage as soon as they said they were fine.

But then she surprised them again. “Hey, I’m not mad.” she spoke softly. “This stuff is replaceable. You aren’t.”

They still weren’t speaking. But Wakko did pull away from his siblings, just enough for Kassie to check him for injuries. Dot was next to follow her immediate older brother, leaving Yakko to be the last. He flinched away from her touch at first, but then he let her when he realized she wasn’t going to hurt him.

Satisfied with finding no injuries on her children, she pulled them closely to her chest and started purring. The purring of a cat - toon or not - was like a lullaby, soothing and calm. And right now, she was hoping to calm her scared, possibly traumatized kittens.

And if she nuzzled them and licked their heads… Well… No one had to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, how did that angst slip in here?  
> Seriously though. Years of being locked up for being yourself is bound to leave some mental scars.  
> So, this chapter was originally going to be longer, but I got to writing this part and decided to cut it in half. So look forward to that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting yesterday's chapter at 3:42AM right before going to sleep and being left with anxiety driven in overdrive was not my smartest idea ever.  
> So let's do it again, shall we? 😅

The four toons just sat there in the middle of the hallway for a good few minutes, silent aside from Kassie’s continues purring. That was how Andy found them. One look from his girlfriend told him everything he needed to know. She was gonna be there for a while.

Well, it’s been a while since he’d last cooked dinner anyway. Better get started.

When Andy left, Kassie focused back on her kittens. _Her_ kittens…listen to her, calling them hers while she was only supposed to be their caretaker.

Oh who was she kidding? She cared for the little ones like they were her own from the start. Maybe it would be fine as long as she kept the thought in her mind.

Anyway. They’d finally stopped trembling and seemed to have calmed down a bit. It was worrisome that a broken vase caused this. Just what went on in their mind?

She stopped purring and gently pushed the children away from her.

As soon as she stopped, Wakko’s head popped up. “Hey, why’d you stop the rumblies?”

Kassie chuckled. “Sorry hon, but it’s almost time for dinner and there’s still a mess to clean up.” Their ears drooped, especially Yakko’s, at the reminder of the broken vase. “Hey, I’m not mad, remember? It’s not like that was some super expensive, one-of-a-kind vase or anything.” she joked.

As she cleaned the water with some towels she pulled from her hammerspace, she thought back on the book said about punishments. She quickly shook it from her mind, though. This had been an accident, besides… the panic they went through was more than enough punishment.

Now that the water was mostly cleaned up, it was about time to get the vacuum cleaner. Kassie told the children to stay put, not wanting them to injure themselves on the shards. The storage closet was only a few steps away, under the stairs. But when she turned back around, vacuum in hand, she found the eldest sibling bend over the shards picking at it.

“Yakko!” she exclaimed, speed-walking over.

The boy jumped up with a gasp. When the woman stood in front of him his ears drooped low and he barely glanced at her. As she was about to speak up, he showed her what he’d been doing

“I saved the flowers.” he said sheepishly, holding up the bouquet.

Alright, you couldn’t stay mad at that.

* * *

Dinner was pretty simple that day. Just some black beans and rice with a slice of pork on the side. In Andy’s defense most of the food they had was in measurements for two people, so the fact he found something that would make a big enough meal for five was a pretty good feat.

The newcomers sure enjoyed it. There was a small incident where Andy and Kassie had to stop Wakko from eating his plate, but other than that it went alright. While eating inedible objects was possible for some toons, it wasn’t exactly the most healthy. Maybe it would be fine for Wakko, but the duo rather not risk it yet.

After dinner the chores were split up between Andy and Kassie. Andy would take care of the leftovers while Kassie loaded the dishwasher. When she reached to collect Wakko’s plate, though, he didn’t let go.

“But I’m still hungry.” he told her.

Andy paused his task of throwing out the leftovers while Kassie stared in disbelieve. Not only had all three gotten a second serving, but Wakko had also gotten the leftovers from Yakko and Dot’s second serving. It was hard to believe he would still be hungry.

Andy had to chuckle at his girlfriend’s confused face as he walked over with the food. “Well then, buddy. How much more do you think you can have?”

Which, in short, is how Wakko ended up eating every bit of black beans and rice, leaving an amused Andy and a shocked Kassie.

“Kid’s got a stomach.” Andy chuckled as he dried the pan Kassie handed him. “Look on the bright side. At least we won’t have to worry about having too much leftovers.”

His joke was followed by a splash of water and a yelp.

* * *

Kassie was buried deep in her book. Well, from an outsiders perspective at least. She was actually just staring blankly, lost in thought. She knew she would have to

talk to the Warners, but how was she supposed to explain it?

With a nervous sigh, she put the book down, catching Andy’s eye. They both knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but they had to know.

“Kids, can you gather around a little?” Andy called out, making the first step. “We need to talk to you.”

With a little hesitation Yakko, Wakko and Dot gathered in front of the couches and sat down on the floor.

Kassie took a deep breath before she spoke. “Okay. Well, it’s kind of difficult to explain.” she trailed off. “You know how… how people always tell you that you’re ‘misbehaving’?” She made sure to use the air quotes.

“Yeah!” Dot piped up. “But we don’t know what we’re doing wrong. They never tell us.”

“Well. The thing is… You seem to have NTS.” Okay, that came out a little more bluntly than Kassie had meant to.

The children just seemed confused. “What’s that?” Yakko asked.

Here goes. “It’s short for New-Toon syndrome. It’s a developmental disorder.” Kassie explained. “Basically what it means is that you might see the world differently. I won’t claim to know what’s going on in your heads, but you seem to not always know that you’re not living in your cartoon world…”

Oh, she hoped she was explaining this well… Though the frowned and confused expressions were telling her no. Well, no one said this was gonna be easy.

“What do you mean ‘our cartoon world’?” Yakko asked accusatory.

Andy took over explaining that part. “It means the world you were created for.” he told Yakko. “Like ours was a world where I’d get blown up on a regular basis and Kassie had to fight off flirty men daily.”

“The real world isn’t like that.” Kassie said. “There won’t be anvils dropping from the sky, or characters who will be unharmed after being blown up. Things that you break aren’t just replaceable props, they’re real things that will cost money to replace or repair.” She really hoped they understood what she was trying to explain. “But there are ways to treat it. To help you three see and understand the line between your toon world and the real world better.”

“So we can get rid of this TSN?” Wakko asked eagerly, only to be shot down by the adults both shaking their heads.

“NTS, sweetie. And no, it’s a condition that stays with you. There’s no cure, no get-rid-quick method. Only treatments to help make your mind clearer.” Kassie told him.

Wakko slumped back down right as Dot perked up. “So, there’s no cameras around? No fourth wall? No props? No angry men who treat us bad who we can get our special kind of revenge on? Our world was a lie?!” she cried hysterically.

“No, no, honey. That’s not what I meant.” Kassie quickly sat herself down on the floor and pulled her close. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make it sound like everything was a lie, sweetheart. Shhh…”

Andy joined the others on the floor, scooting closer to Dot. “I’m sure your world is great and beautiful and amazing.” he said. “But just like our world, it only exists for television. Not to say that makes it any less real. I’m sure it’s real in its own way.”

“But it’s not the right world. Is that what your saying?” Yakko snarled. “What? We’re gonna have to live in your ‘real world’ by your rules and be what the ‘real world’ needs us to be?!”

“Yakko.” Before Kassie could say anything else, the boy had stormed upstairs, hiding himself in one of the rooms if the slamming of a door was anything to go by.

Kassie made her way to stand up, but Andy stopped her. “I’ll go, Kass.” He smiled at her. “You’ve got your hands full already.”

That’s true. Dot was still sobbing and Wakko started getting teary-eyed as well. After helping Kassie, who kept holding Dot close, on the couch and settling a barely responsive Wakko close to the purring cat, Andy went upstairs to find the third member of the family.

Thanks to his sense of smell, he found Yakko pretty quickly. The boy was hiding out in one of the guest bedrooms. The kid wouldn’t even let Andy get a word out before he spoke himself.

“So is that why you took us in?” he asked bitterly. “To- What? To change us? Make us normal without that- that NTS-thing effecting us? Like everyone wants us to be?!” Yakko raised his voice with every sentence he said. “Well, I got news for you! We like who we are- I like who I am! A-and we’re not gonna let you change us!”

Andy just stood there and took it. “That’s good then. We like you just the way you are too bud.” When Yakko’s expression turned to one of confusion, he continued. “Listen. No one is trying to change you. You can be as goofy and wild as you want to be. We only want you to be aware of the world around you.” He put a hand on Yakko’s shoulder, partially to comfort him, but also to make sure he didn’t run away again. “It’s not that we want you to live by the real world’s rules, it’s just that toon-world rules don’t apply here. Imagine you’re out there, dropping anvils on people. In your world, they’d probably just get squashed and bounce right back, wouldn’t they?”

Yakko nodded.

“That’s your world’s toon-physics coming into play. But we don’t always have toon-physics in the real world. If you were to drop an anvil on people right here and now, they would get seriously injured, kiddo. We just want you to be aware of these things, not change you.” The dog petted the silent toon’s head affectionately. “You’re you. No one should be allowed to change that.”

Yakko only hummed. When asked if he wanted to go back downstairs, the kid could only nod. So Andy led him downstairs, keeping a hand on his back to steady him.

The cuddle-pile was still where he’d left them, and seemed to be doing somewhat better. Dot wasn’t sobbing and crying her eyes out anymore. Wakko still had tear-tracks down his face, but at least he was responsive again. And Kassie was still purring up a storm to try and calm her distraught kittens.

The moment Kassie saw Yakko, she held out her arm, inviting him to the unoccupied spot next to her. Yakko surprisingly took her up on her offer. The second he sat down he was pulled in a side-hug.

“‘m sorry.” Yakko muttered.

“No, sweetie, I’m sorry.” Kassie quickly apologized. “I should have taken a little more time and care into what I was gonna say. I could have probably explained it better that way. You had all the right to be upset.”

“Uuuuhhhhhh…. I’m pretty sure we- I would’ve reacted the same way no matter how you explained it.” Yakko gave a wry chuckle.

Kassie smiled sadly as she nuzzled the oldest child. “Just so we’re clear, I like you just the way you are. I’ve seen you three on the bus, in bath and when you were playing together in the living room. If that’s who you really are, then that’s who I want you to be.” she said. “But if you can’t be that yet, I understand. No rush.”

“We just want you kids to be happy.” Andy supplied, running a hand through Wakko’s hair, under the hat. “You deserve that at least.”

* * *

The kids were exhausted after all that, not surprising really. It was about time to head to bed. It wasn’t until the children were taken upstairs that Kassie realized a problem. Their house only had two guest bedrooms.

‘ _Well… I suppose I could split them up by gender? Dot having a room to herself with Yakko and Wakko sharing. Or maybe the youngest together and give Yakko a room of his own… Or-’_

“What? No!”

Kassie jumped. Had she been thinking out loud? By the expression on the children’s faces she would guess ‘Yes’.

“We wanna stay together!” the siblings all said in unison.

Oh, her idea hadn’t gone over well. “I’m not splitting you up, hons. It’s just bedrooms.”

“Can’t we stay in the same bedroom?” Dot asked, batting her eyelashes.

“Well, the problem with that is that we don’t have a bed big enough for all three of you.” Kassie told her. “Two of you may just fit, but not three.”

Dot batted her eyes a little more, trying to be as cute as possible. “Pleeaase?”

Seeing she had no choice, Kassie gave in, making a mental note to go buy them a big enough bed tomorrow.

So came the task of pulling the mattresses off the beds, dragging one of them from one room to the other, and getting the pillows and blankets. There. Their temporary bed was made…and too small. As Kassie was thinking of ways to change this, Andy came in dragging another mattress. He put it right next to the other two, as well as a spare blanket and pillow.

The Warners practically jumped in their temporary bed, reveling in the comfort, and were out like a light. The couple left the room after closing the blinds and turning off the lights.

Andy gave his girlfriend a quick kiss before grabbing his own blanket and pillow. “I’ll take the couch tonight. Goodnight dear.”

“Goodnight hon.” Kassie whispered. She looked towards the door the kids were sleeping behind. “Goodnight…my kittens.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I say ‘toon-world’ and ‘real world’ I don’t mean there’s multiple worlds. 
> 
> A ‘toon’s world’ is meant as the set they were created for and the physics that apply in there. I’d like to imagine that there’s a lot of toon-physics in the set itself, so that even humans can use toon logic. You know, like Ralph being squashed by an anvil and surviving.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we start let me just tell you. I don’t know squat about money, especially not dollars. So if you read this and think ‘Wow there, (Insert thing) is not that expensive/cheap!’ then that’s why. Please bear with me and sorry in advance.
> 
> So for this chapter I had to google what bedding was in English, because blanket didn't seem to be the right word and... Americans use a top sheet instead of a duvet cover? What the heck are comforters? I live in Europe, I never heard these words, and literally all I've seen being used are duvets and duvet covers.  
> The more you know, I guess 🤣
> 
> (Also, I finally settled for a place for them to live that's not just 'Location that's a bus-drive away', see if you can catch it 😉)
> 
> (Edit: End note issue is fixed)

Kassie woke up early that morning. There was a lot that needed to be done to properly make this a home for the Warners. Buying beds and other furniture, they’d need more food and probably some toys or other forms of entertainment for the kids. Oh and all the other necessities! How big was their budget again?

“Our budget is big enough, dear.” Kassie jumped, tail puffing out. Andy chuckled from the kitchen seat. “Sorry Kass, but you were mumbling to yourself again.”

Kassie groaned. “Again?” She sat down at the table. “Are you sure, Andy? I mean, you’re the only one working right now. I don’t want to keep taking the money that _you_ earn.”

“Kassandra.” There was the dreaded full name again. “Do I seem upset to you?” Kassie shook her head. “Darling, I know it hasn’t been easy for you to get a job. It might even get harder now, with three extra kiddos to take care of.”

“But that’s exactly wh-”

“No, Kass.” Andy cut her off. “It’s fine. Besides, you can look at this as me repaying you.” He gently nuzzled his girlfriend. “You worked yourself to the bone when I just got my career started.”

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Kassie nodded. “Okay… Just until I’m able to hold down a job.”

Andy wouldn’t ask anything more. With one more kiss on her cheek, he got up to make her some breakfast. “So… Your kittens, huh?” Kassie blushed furiously underneath her fur. “Funny. They seemed more like puppies to me.”

“Oh, don’t try and act so casual.” Kassie snorted. “I’m not the one who stayed up all night to read the book and their documents. I saw those bags.”

“Those documents were infuriatingly bias and unnecessarily rude towards the kids…” Andy growled.

* * *

Back upstairs Yakko was slowly waking up from all the unfamiliar noises. Since when could they hear birds chirping in the tower? Or cars driving by? Or the sound of pe- This wasn’t the water tower!

He sprang up in a sitting position, rousing his younger siblings who also woke up groggily. Neither of them spoke a word, but it was pretty clear from the expressions on their faces when they looked around that they were thinking the same thing. The sounds, the light… They were not in the water tower!

All together, they jumped out of the beds and sprinted for the door, ripping it open in a frenzy. To their surprise it wasn’t locked. They ran around, trying to find an exit only to trip and take a tumble down the stairs.

As they lay in a pile at the bottom of the stairs, they could hear movements. Oh no, they were caught!

A gasp, followed by hasty footsteps. Here comes the net… “Are you three alright?” Wait, wha-? “Is anyone injured?”

The Warners minds cleared a little. Enough to recognize the voice speaking to them. “Kassie?” Yakko groaned.

It all clicked then. The knocking on the tower’s exit, the blinding light, the stranger coming in and talking to them and overall treating them kindly, Plotz yelling, the bus trip… The events of yesterday flooded back into his memory. Right…they were at Kassie’s house.

“Urgghh… The real world hurts.” Yakko groaned instead.

A chuckle came from Andy. “Yeah, that’s usually what happens if you don’t use your toon-powers to catch yourself, kiddo.”

As Kassie lifted Wakko and Dot off Yakko’s back, he got a chance to look at them. Both of them still looked a little frantic, but they seemed to be back to normal otherwise. Or well, whatever normal was for them, that is.

A paw landed on his cheek as Kassie inspected Yakko, like she had his sibs, for any injuries. Seemingly satisfied, she let go and stood up, still holding Wakko and Dot.

“What happened just now?” she asked. No anger, no judgment, just concern.

Yakko chuckled sheepishly. “Oh, that? Well, funny story actually. We kinda just woke up and we… well… Uuhhhhhhh…”

“We didn’t know where we were.” Wakko filled in the blank.

“Right, that.”

Kassie nodded her head, trying to understand. “So you panicked?”

“A little.” Dot confessed. “Yakko always tells us to run and escape when we can. So we did.”

Neither adult was confused by that logic. When the chance of freedom presented itself, you take the chance no matter how small it might be. This probably wasn’t the first time this happened, going by Dot’s words, but hopefully it would be the last. They would make sure this would be the last.

“Well! I’m just gonna get you three some breakfast.” Andy said, trying to get their minds on something else. “You lot have a busy day ahead of you after all.”

With a groan, Kassie put Wakko and Dot down so they could run to the kitchen with Yakko. “Don’t remind me, hon.”

Wakko tilted his head in confusion as Andy put their breakfast on the table. “Why? What are we gonna do today?” he asked, before swallowing his bacon, scrambled eggs and toast in one bite.

After refilling Wakko’s plate, Andy gave them the heads up of today’s plans. “First of all, you’re gonna need your own bed, because as fun as it is to sleep on the couch, you can’t really keep using my mattress.” He winked playfully at the kids. “Then Kassie is probably take you to some other stores for other necessary furniture and the like. Either way, you’ll be at the mall for a while.”

“You’re not coming?” Dot asked.

Andy shook his head. “As much as I want to, I have to work. Songs don’t write themselves unfortunately.” He turned away from the now off stove to face the children. “Though before you go there are a few things you should probably know.”

Swallowing the last bits of food, the Warner siblings became alert, wondering what this was about.

“So, I’m guessing that back at the studio you barely got hurt?” The trio confirmed his suspicion. “The reason for that is because studios like that are full of toon-energy. It affects everything in the studio lot, including humans. It’s the reason they don’t get injured from things that would usually cause serious harm.” he explained. “But it seems that thanks to that, you three haven’t had much practice with your toon-powers either.”

Yakko quickly raised his hand as if he were in class. “Yeah, hi. So, quick question, but… What are toon-powers exactly?”

“It’s exactly as it sounds. Toon-powers are the abilities - or powers - that a toon has.” Andy answered. “The most common for example is your hammerspace.”

He demonstrated by pulling a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. They wittered immediately, but the effect was still there.

“We can do that!” Wakko exclaimed eagerly.

“Yeah!” Yakko joined in. “Guess we just didn’t know it had a name.”

“I know I’ve pulled enough mallets out of my hammerspace.” Dot gloated proudly.

They each reached behind them and rummaged through their ‘hammerspace’ as they now knew it was called. When they pulled back they proudly showed… a runny pie, a dead flower and a- erm… wooden stick?

Yakko stared at the pie in disbelief. “Hey! What gives?” he exclaimed. “This was supposed to be a full pie, not-” He cringed away as he let the pie drip down on the table. “That.”

“You think yours is bad? Look at my flower!” Dot practically shoved the dead flower in her brother’s face. “I wanted a full bouquet!”

“My mallet is gone!” Wakko cried, looking in horror at his broken stick.

That happened to be the moment Kassie walked into the kitchen. “What about a mallet?” she asked while tying her hair in a ponytail.

Wakko showed her the broken stick. “My mallet is gone!” he repeated.

Blinking in confusion, Kassie looked at Andy for an explanation. “I tried explaining the basics of toon-powers and they tried to use their hammerspace.”

“Ah.” The cat knelt down, petting the distressed Wakko’s head. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Your mallets were confiscated when we left. Plotz gave me some crap about it being studio property.”

“So I can only pull out broken sticks now?” Wakko’s ears drooped.

“Of course not!” Andy called out. “From what I hear, it’s just your old mallets that are out of commission.”

“And anvils…” Kassie muttered.

“Just your mallets and anvils that are out of commission.” he corrected himself. “Your toon-powers are just a little underdeveloped. You’ve been relying too much on the studio’s toon-energy. You just need more practice.” Andy reassured the three Warners. “And I think I know just the person who can teach you.”

The children jumped and cheered at the idea. “But!” And deflated immediately at Kassie’s ‘but’. “That is gonna have to wait a little while. First things first, going to the mall so we can get you three settled properly.”

* * *

The car parked in front of a quaint little mall. The North-Hollywood Toon Mall, though, used toon-physics to be bigger on the inside than it appeared. It was a mall specifically created for a toon’s every day needs. In other words, things that could most likely destroy a regular human-build mall…

Just one more check before she left the car wouldn’t hurt, Kassie decided as she ripped open her purse. Wallet was still there, so were her keys. She’d packed plenty of snacks for Wakko’s big appetite as well as her old studio’s prop-sack, which she honestly forgot she still had and wanted to burn the moment she lay eyes on it. After mentally adding ‘Buy a new prop-sack’ to her list, she was ready to go.

Her kids had apparently already decided they were ready and left the car while Kassie checked her purse.

Biting back a curse, the cat slammed the car door shut and ran after her kids. Luckily they’d stopped right in front of the doors. Kassie let out a sigh of relief as she caught up. “Yakko, Wakko, Dot, I know you’re excited and all, but please try to stay close.” she insisted. “The mall is bigger than it looks and busy at this time of day too. I don’t want you getting lost in there. But if you do get lost-”

The siblings stopped listening as they entered the mall. It really was much bigger on the inside, it had escalators and everything! Big ones! There were food courts, mallet stores, even shops that sold anvils! Think of all the pranks they could pull!

What to do first? Disguise as a pastry chef and sneak some free food? Nah, they’d done that before. Oh! How about-

“Are you listening to me?” Their heads snapped to who was talking. “Kids?” It was Kassie.

Yakko chuckled sheepishly. “Right… Not our world.”

Kassie put a paw on the older brother’s shoulder. “It’ll get easier to see over time, hon.”

Yakko, Wakko and Dot looked at each other with uncertainty. It didn’t feel like it was getting better. Yakko had been fully prepared to rope his siblings into a plan to get some free food. Meanwhile Wakko and Dot had been ready to whack the mean boss with their mallets, which they just remembered not having access to.

“Hey, none of that now. You are getting better.” Kassie smiled reassuringly. “You snapped out of it immediately didn’t you? And you realized immediately that something wasn’t right. That’s progress.” With one last affectionate head ruffle, she got up from her kneeling position. “Now come on. Bunks and Beds is just up ahead.”

* * *

Okay. Progress so far. They managed to find mattresses that each found the most comfortable. They also found pillows that each found the most comfortable. So far so good.

Now the hard part that no one seemed to agree on. The bed itself! When the Warners saw the various kinds of beds they were torn. On one hand, Yakko liked keeping his siblings close, so the king size bed seemed great, but he’d also like to have a little space just for himself. Wakko had a similar problem in that he loved the cuddle-piles with his big brother and baby sister, but the bunk bed was something he wouldn’t mind trying either. And Dot, as much as she enjoyed cuddling up to her older brothers, wanted her own sleeping space and was leaning more towards the single beds, or the bunk bed.

In short, they had a problem.

“Hello there, can I help you with anything?” As on cue, an employee came to their rescue. The squirrel toon was holding a notebook to write down the information. It may seem strange to some, but it was just how this store worked.

“Well, we got the mattresses and pillows all figured out, but we’re stuck on the bed itself.” Kassie shook her head as she chuckled. “And we haven’t even looked at any type of bedding yet.”

The employee nodded as she listened. “What seems to be the problem?”

“The kids want to sleep close together in a cuddle-pile, but also in separate beds.” Kassie gave the quick summary.

She let out an ‘oomph’ when she was suddenly tackled from all around by the kids. They stared at her with big, pleading eyes. “Can we please get the single beds?” Dot pleaded, batting her eyes cutely. “We can shove them together if we want to sleep close.”

Yakko shook his head at that. “Please can’t we get the king sized? It’s big and spacey enough so we won’t always bother each other. And it’ll take up less space then three constantly moving beds.”

“I don’t know anymore.” Wakko admitted. “Can’t we get both somehow?”

Right as Kassie was about to tell him no, the employee chipped in. “Yes, that’s possible.”

“Huh?” Neither the siblings or caretaker were expecting that answer.

“Though, it’s not exactly possible for single beds.” She clarified, leading them through the store to another section. “These are beds made with toon-energy.” She showed them a king sized bed which had a sort of hand-held remote next to it. The employee grabbed the remote, punching in a security code and showed a little demonstration. “Now, there are two buttons. One will set the bed to king size and the second-” She pressed the other button which made the left side of the bed lift up in a way that created a bunk bed. “-will do that.” the employee finished.

The four customers were in awe, but where the Warners snapped out of it quickly to beg their caretaker to please buy that one, Kassie was a little slower.

“Can we? Can we? Can we, pleeeeaaaase?” the siblings begged and pleaded. “Pretty please with sugar on top?”

Kassie cleared her throat. “W-well it depends on how much it is, I guess.”

“It’s 1050 dollars.” Kassie nearly choked. That much?! And they hadn’t even taken into account the mattresses, bedding and pillows!

She sighed. “Alright. We’ll take it.”

While the kids cheered and danced, the employee took all the other information and handed her notes to a colleague who would prepare the bed in the back. Since everything in the mall worked on toon-logic, the bed was assembled in a matter of minutes and brought to the front for Kassie to pay.

Which is how Kassie and the kids left with a nearly 4000 dollar complete bed in Kassie’s prop-sack. The only thing that saved it from being more expensive was a discount on the mattresses.

Here’s hoping that would be the most expensive they were gonna get.

* * *

After going around the mall buying some more necessities Kassie was about ready to go home. They’d gotten a few more things, like an extra nightstand, a lamp Dot really liked, some new curtains and of course the ever important toothbrushes. Kassie also threw in some soft brushes for their fur and a few new towels just in case.

Yakko, Wakko and Dot were just following behind Kassie trying to behaving, but it was hard with the background music being so playful. It screamed ‘Prank time’. The music made Yakko pause in his steps. Wait…did the real world have background music? He never heard it before now.

“Yakko?” His sibs must’ve noticed him stop walking.

He let his ear swivel around. “You guys hear that music too, right?” Getting a confirming nod from both of them, Yakko started looking around.

“What are you doing?” Dot questioned. “It’s just background music. We’ve always had that.”

“Yeah, in our world.” Yakko stated. “But this isn’t our world and I’ve never heard it before now.”

That made the younger brother and sister pause for a second. Now that he mentioned it…

Wakko spotted a crowd up ahead. “Hey, what’s that?”

“You mean besides ‘a crowd’?” Yakko joked. He started walking closer to it. “Come on, sibs. Let’s go find out.”

The closer they walked, the clearer and louder the music became. Seems like Wakko found the source of it then. They pushed through the small crowd, finding some random guy playing the piano right there in the mall. So that’s what that was.

“Whoa… Do you think all music comes from there?” Wakko asked.

Yakko shrugged. “I don’t know, Wakko. Didn’t our background music sound uuuhhhh… different at times?”

The younger boy shook his head. “No, I mean do you think it came from the real world? That we just never noticed it.”

“Huh… That’s an interesting question…” Yakko said. “And I believe that for our answer we’d better ask someone more versed in real world physics. Hey Kass-” He cut himself off when he noticed a certain cat was nowhere around. “Oh-oh.”

The others noticed too and started looking around for a familiar face in the crowds of people.

“Relax, sibs.” Yakko tried to reassure them. “We’ve always found who we were looking for before, right? Even if they didn’t want us to.”

Dot nodded slightly, but not fully convinced. “Yeah. Before.” she emphasized. “But who says that real world physics work the same? We could be stuck here forever trying to find who we’re looking for!”

Yakko growled softly as he shook his head. Right, he had just been about to ask about real world physics. How could he forget already?

There was a sudden dinging noise from all around the mall. _“Attention shoppers.”_ A voice reverberated through the mall after the ding. _“_ _Could_ _Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner, please make_ _their_ _way to the_ _help-desk._ _You mo-”_ the voice cut off all of a sudden before it came back. _“Excuse me. Kassie is looking for you.”_

“Sure, but where is the help-desk, Mr. Voice-man?” Wakko called out to the ceiling. They didn’t receive an answer.

Luckily they were overheard by a mall security guard who passed by. After confirming with the security desk that the descriptions matched, he approached them. “Hey there, kids. Are you Yakko, Wakko and Dot?”

When the siblings turned to find a chubby man in a security uniform, their eyes widened. Oh no. Did they do something wrong again? They just got free! Not this time!

They turned on their heels, Yakko pulling his younger siblings by the hand to keep them close. The startled security guard gave chase, but thanks to some quick footwork and strange movements, he quickly lost sight of them. He informed the desk and gave their last known location before he continued the search.

Only after the Warners were sure the guard had left did they come out of hiding. They’d decided to hide in the piano, which is where they would stay for the time being. Though, curiosity was a strong thing and Yakko was definitely curious about the piano. Making sure it was safe first, he jumped out of his hiding spot and onto the piano seat.

It wasn’t long before piano notes rang through the mall.

* * *

It was taking too long for Kassie’s liking. Abandoning the waiting-game, she retraced her steps. She remembered them being right behind her after they’d bought the toothbrushes, then when she reached ‘Whack-a-Mallet’ and turned to ask if they wanted to go in they were gone. So they’d gotten lost between those locations.

As Kassie got closer to the place where she lost the kids, her ears picked up the sound of the mall-piano being played. Usually this was just background noise to her, but something stuck out to her this time. It wasn’t the usual ‘I can play a decent tune’ kind of play. It was more like a child banging on the keys.

Now this in itself wasn’t unusual either, kids bang and play on that thing all the time. But right now, to someone who’d just lost her kittens, it was them. Kassie sprinted towards the piano, begging and hoping it was her kids.

The universe was on her side today. “Yakko! Wakko! Dot!” she called out as she rushed to the piano.

The trio, who’d been jumping on and banging notes on the piano, abruptly stopped and turned around. They jumped off the piano and ran to Kassie, tackling her in a hug.

Kassie gave a relieved purr when she had her kittens in her arms. It could’ve just been her imagination, but she could’ve sworn they purred back. It was probably just hopeful thinking. “I’m guessing neither of you heard what I told you to do if you got lost?” She just got straight to the point.

“Uuuuhh…. That depends.” Yakko said sheepishly. “What did you say?”

Of course. “I told you to stay on the first floor and pointed out the help-desk where we’d meet up if we couldn’t find each other.” the cat repeated her earlier instructions.

“Ooohh! That! Yeah, yeah, we totally heard that.” The older boy laughed nervously. “We just…uuuhhhhh…”

Dot had to jump in to help her big brother. “Uhh… Missed the directions to the help-desk!”

“And Mr. Voice-man wouldn’t tell us where it was.” Wakko chimed in.

Choosing not to ask who or what Mr. Voice-man was, Kassie had to give them props. “Either way, you did good staying in one spot.” She ruffled their heads lightly. “Though I think it’s about time to head home, wouldn’t you say?”

Truth be told, the siblings actually wanted to play on the piano a little longer. It was fun! Even if their music sounded kinda bad. But they followed Kassie to the exit anyways.

When a chubby security guard passed by, Kassie gave him a nod, gesturing to her kids who’d seemed to shrink away a little at the sight of him. The man grabbed his walkie-talkie, probably informing his colleagues. Now that that was handled it was time to go ho-

“Oh! Can we go there? Please? Please, please, please?” Dot pulled at Kassie’s sweater while pointing to a clothes store.

The boys had to raise their eyebrows at that. “Uuh… Dot? You do know that we’re toons, right? We don’t normally change clothes.” Yakko pointed out to his little sister. “Actually, why is there even a clothing store?”

“Because some toons do like to switch up their wardrobe.” Kassie informed him. “They tend to think of the clothes they were drawn with as work clothes and wear anything _but_ when they’re not filming.” She scratched her chin with a sheepish chuckle. “Aaaand I’m one of them, honestly.”

“So can we take a look? Pleeaase??” Dot used her cute-eyes to try to convince the older toon.

Kassie hesitated. They’d already spend quite a lot today and most of it would be coming from Andy’s wallet. She didn’t want to keep taking his money, despite him saying it was okay.

The boys also didn’t seem too thrilled. “I don’t know, Dot. Maybe we could go some other time?”

Dot just upped the cute factor. “Aww… Pretty please with sugar on top?”

“Dot, honey.” Kassie let out a sigh. “Just a few minutes, okay? And we’re sticking to a budget on clothes!” She made sure to set the rules. “Next time we’re here, we’ll spend a little longer on the clothes, okay? But not today. Deal?”

Shaking the hand Kassie held out for her, Dot nodded. “Deal!”

“Okay then. Let’s at least get you guys pajamas.”

Dot of course very much enjoyed the many cute clothes that hung in the store. The complete opposite of her brothers, the eldest of which seemed very indifferent about the clothes. Wakko tried to imitate his brother by remaining indifferent about it, but pretty quickly failed when he saw a hoodie he really liked. Pretty soon even Yakko could help but be interested in some of the clothing he found.

But they stuck to the rules set by Kassie. The four of them eventually left the store with three pajamas, two skirts and a shirt for Dot, the hoodie Wakko wanted as well as another sweater, and for Yakko also a shirt and a new pair of slacks that were surprisingly similar to the one he was wearing, just a different shade of brown.

Now it was about time to go home.

* * *

It didn’t take too long to get everything set in the Warners’ bedroom. It was just a matter of getting everything out of the prop-sack - which Kassie did indeed burn after it was emptied out - and placing it in the room. The old nightstand, the one they already had when this was a guest-bedroom, was put against the right wall with the bed next to it. The new nightstand, was put to the left of the bed. That one would really only be in use when the bed was in king-size mode, though. The lamps, old and new, went on the nightstands. The new one, the one that Dot liked so much, went on the old nightstand since that was on her side of the bed.

Lastly Kassie put up the new curtains while the siblings made their beds. Or attempted to make their beds at while Kassie gave them instructions. They managed to do it eventually.

Now that the room was pretty much done, there wasn’t much else to do. And as fun as it was to watch Kassie burn her prop-sack on the patio outside, even that got boring after the first minute. So they decided to explore the house. So far they’ve only been in the living room, kitchen, upstairs bathroom and their bedroom. They’ve also seen the garage when they got in and out of the car earlier today, but not much exploring had been done there yet.

Though, since they were upstairs right now they might as well start there. There wasn’t much of interest there, though. Opposite of their room was another guest bedroom which was just as bland as theirs, though they at least managed to spice up their room with some new things. The first room on the left of theirs was Kassie and Andy’s bedroom, where they couldn’t help but notice a missing mattress on one side of the bed. Maybe leave this room alone…

Next to the couple’s bedroom was apparently the laundry room. The washing machine was on right now, washing their new clothes. Opposite of that was the bathroom, nothing much to explore there either. Then finally came what appeared to be a storage room. This oughta be fun.

It was not…

All there was to find were boxes full of Christmas decorations, a locked chest, a box with two photo albums with most photos ripped or cut in some weird way, and just random junk. They couldn’t even lock-pick the chest! Boring…

Well, time to explore downstairs. Wakko found the bathroom immediately, but the room that they were really interested in was the big one. The mystery room that Andy disappeared to for hours on end yesterday.

“Please let this be better than that boring storage room.” Dot pleaded as Yakko slowly opened the door.

It was. It so was! First thing that caught the siblings’ eyes was the piano against the far wall, but there was even more. All different kinds of instruments!

“So this is where the music all comes from…” Yakko muttered as he strung random strings on the guitar in the standard.

A chuckle came from behind the door. “Well, yes and no.” Andy closed the door he was behind. “I’m guessing you’re talking about background music?”

Caught. Well, guessing by the dog’s face, he didn’t really seem to mind the intrusion too much.

Wakko nodded his head. “Yeah! Though, why do we only hear it in our world?”

“Ai, hitting me with the hard question, huh bud?” Andy teased the boy. “This might need some explaining.” He turned his seat away from the keyboard to focus more on the kids. “I know we keep calling it ‘your world’, but the truth is that your world is part of the real world.” This earned a few confused faces. “I know, I know. Let me explain. You know the movie lot, right?” All three nodded. “In those buildings are sets they use for filming. Thanks to the toon-energy it can be as big as the directors want it to be and can differ per shoot. Your world is one of those sets.” He paused for a moment to let the information sink in.

“But what about the music?” Wakko repeated his earlier question.

Well, they took that better than expected. “Well, usually there’s a separate room where the musicians are playing their instruments. They don’t usually interact with the set, since it can become pretty dangerous at times, so that might be why you’ve never seen it.”

Man, learning things you thought you knew aren’t how it really works wasn’t fun. This was gonna happen a lot more, wasn’t it?

The trio looked around the room again. “So, why do you have all these instruments then?” Yakko couldn’t help but ask.

“Well, that’s easy. I’m a freelance-musician.” Andy told him with pride. “I’ve made a name for myself out there, so people who like what they hear will hire me to play some songs, compose some music, you name it.”

“No, I mean why so many?”

There were quite a lot of instruments. There were the aforementioned piano, guitar and keyboard, but there was also a violin, multiple different flutes, drums, a trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, cello, harmonica. You named it, he probably had it!

Andy simply shrugged. “Why not? Music has been my passion since I was created. Of course I’m gonna have a lot of instruments.”

_*pink**pink**ponk*_

The sound of the piano ran through the room. Curious, Andy looked to find Wakko tapping on the keys. He couldn’t hold back the fond smile as he remembered doing something similar when he first saw a piano.

He walked over, petting Wakko on the head- err…hat? “Want me to teach you a couple of songs, bud?”

* * *

When Kassie had finally calmed down from her pyromaniac episode, she came inside to make some hot chocolate for herself. She thought about asking her kids and boyfriend if they wanted some when she noticed it was quiet.

Way too quiet for the Warner siblings…

Grabbing her hot cocoa, she went to the only room that was sound-proof. The music room. The second she opened the door she was met with the sound of shaky, messy piano play and song.

She found all four missing toons in front of the piano, Yakko being the one currently playing it. Ah, Andy was teaching them, huh?

At some point while she was listening in the doorway, Dot wanted a turn, so a push and shove battle began which Wakko also joined in for, not wanting to be left out.

“Whoa, whoa! Break it up!” Andy called out. “Yakko, you’ve been on the piano for a while now. It’s only fair to give Dot a turn. But Dot, you could’ve just asked.”

Kassie had to giggle at the sight of Andy acting like a father. “He’s right you know.” she decided to let herself be known. “Besides, it’s a little early to start teaching you how to play on the same piano at the same time.”

“You can do that?!” the siblings asked in excitement.

“Yeah, but not yet.” Andy told them. “Now Dot, I believe you wanted a turn?”

No more words were needed as Dot started playing an easy ditty.

As Dot was playing, the two adults stood on the side watching. “I totally understand your kitten statement now.” Andy told her softly.

“Oh?” Kassie smirked. “Whatever do you mean, dearest?”

Andy elbowed her softly. “You know exactly what I mean.”

“I know.” She still smirked in her cup. “But I wanna hear it from your mouth.”

Sighing dramatically, Andy shook his head. “Fine. These kids are totally my puppies as much as they’re your kittens.” he admitted to her. “Also, I’ve never felt a bigger urge to play ‘Scales and Arpeggios’ than now.”

Kassie snorted. “You’re such a dork.”

“But I’m your dork.”

“Got that right.”

“Eeewww! Get a room!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah… I couldn’t decide between beds for the kids. I mean in the show they’re shown in different kinds of beds each time. One time it’s a bunk bed, then it’s 3 singles and I believe there was at least one episode where they all slept in the same bed.
> 
> Also, again, excuse my prizing. I literally just googled the average prize for bunk and king size beds, took the maximum prices, combined them then divided by 2 and minus the cheapest price for a king size bed and came out with 1050. I don't know what I'm doing either!
> 
> No detailed descriptions because 1) That way you can use your own creativity to imagine what everything looks like and 2) I just really suck at descriptions.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm just getting straight to it. This chapter ended up a little less focused on the Warners than I intended. Sorry about that in advance.  
> The next chapter should make up for that, though.  
> Hope you enjoy it nonetheless. 😅
> 
> In the meantime, I'm gonna take a little break and get started on a cover drawing for this.

It’s been a few days since the ‘mall disaster’ as Kassie dubbed it. They had gone back there, as promised, to get the children some more clothing. A limit had been set for an over-eager Dot. Turns out they actually liked the feeling of wearing clothes that they weren’t drawn with.

But, as Andy had to point out after they got home that day, winter was coming closer, so they would need to buy some warmer clothing. Yes, the Warners had fur to keep them warm, but it didn’t get much thicker than it currently was, so it wasn’t going to fully protect them from the cold. So they bought a couple of long-sleeves shirts, sweaters and even managed to convince Dot to give a pair of pants a try, just for winter they promised.

Kassie had been in the middle of folding the freshly ironed clothes when the doorbell rang. Strange. They weren’t expecting anyone, were they? When Kassie opened the door, she was met with a very familiar face.

The fox toon on the other side of the door smiled with her arms open for a hug. “Hey girl!”

“Vicky!” Kassie happily jumped in to hug her best friend. “I didn’t know you were coming over. Why didn’t you call?”

“What? And ruin the surprise visit?” Vicky laughed. “Nu-uh hun.”

Pulling out of the hug, Vicky pushed passed Kassie and started looking around the house, as if looking for something. That was strange, considering Vicky had been at her place plenty of times before.

Kassie crossed her arms and gave her best friend a judging stare. “Vick? What are you doing?”

“Oh!” The fox started twirling with her necklace. “I was juuuust…uhmm… Looking for my book! Yes! You know, the one I let you borrow a couple of days ago?”

Arms still crossed, Kassie snickered. “Really? You were trying to find your book on the ceiling lights?” She shook her head in amusement. “Victoria, I’ve known you since the moment you were created. I know when you lie. And girl, that was he biggest, boldest and worst lie you’ve ever told.”

“I mean, that was hardly the biggest and boldest.” Vicky muttered. “But fine. I was looking for your kits!” She clasped her hands together in excitement. “It’s been almost a week and I just couldn’t wait any longer to meet them. I’m sorry.”

Kassie was a little taken aback. “It’s uhh… It’s fine, I guess.” She didn’t know how to respond to that. It was one thing that she called them her kittens in her head, but another thing when someone else says it out loud. “But, you do know they’re not my kids, right? I’m just taking care of them.”

“Mmhm, sure hun.” Vicky crossed her arms playfully. “You can’t tell me you don’t think of them as yours.”

“Well, yeah.” Kassie admitted. “But I also know they’re not mine. I have no right to claim so.”

Vicky nodded, only half listening to the lies her best friend was telling herself. “Soo… Can I meet them yet or…?”

* * *

“You’re doing pretty good there, kiddo.”

Yakko beamed at Andy’s compliment. Squashing down that weird rumbling in his throat, he turned to smile at his teacher. “You think so? I think I missed a couple of notes here and there.”

“Well, sure.” Andy told him honestly. “But you gotta give yourself credit for the notes you did hit. Especially in the short time you learned this song.” The dog strummed a few notes on his guitar, trying to get a tune going for a new song. “You got a real knack for the piano, little meister.”

There was that odd feeling in his throat again. Just as he was about to start playing this Jingle Bells song again, the door slammed open and this weird fox lady barged in. It didn’t seem to phase Andy at all, whereas Yakko’s tail puffed in fright.

“You know, I was kinda wondering how long it was gonna take you, Vicky.” Andy didn’t even look up from his guitar when he addressed the fox. “I honestly expected you earlier.”

The fox, who Yakko now knew was named Vicky, just brushed his comments off. “Come on, Andy, I have some self-control.”

“You really don’t.”

Opting to ignore Andy’s remark, Vicky instead turned to the young toon child sitting by the piano. She gasped. “Oh my goodness! He’s so cute! Just look at those floppy ears, and that fluffy little tail!”

“Yeah… About that.” Kassie followed her hyperactive friend into the room. “His tail usually isn’t that fluffy, if you catch my drift.”

Andy finally looked up from his guitar to look at Yakko. “You okay there, bud?” he asked.

“Y-yeah. Just got startled by the noise.” Yakko replied a little shakily.

Feeling guilty, Vicky went over to him and pulled him into a hug. “I’m really sorry for scaring you. I just got a little overexcited about meeting the kids my best friends took under their roof.” She let him go and stuck out her hand to him. “Let’s try this again. Hi, I’m Victoria Lynne, Vicky for short. I’ve worked on the same show as Kassie and Andy. So what’s your name, cutie”

After straightening out the lavender shirt he’d decided to wear today, Yakko took Vicky’s hand. “Yakko Warner. Thanks for the ‘cute’ compliment and all, but you got the wrong Warner for that. My little sister is the cute one here.”

“Don’t sell yourself short there, Yakko.” Vicky giggled.

While Yakko held up the polite talk, he was honestly a little weirded out by the fox. First she _slammed_ the door open, a sound that reminded him way too much of the door to the toon-proof room they were locked in before the water tower, and then she makes some big deal about meeting him. He was secretly glad when Kassie convinced her to leave them alone.

After the door closed, Andy turned to Yakko again. “Sorry about her, Yak.” he sighed. “Vicky’s just like that. She always gets overexcited about first meetings. She’ll cool down in a few minutes.” Yakko didn’t answer, so he put away his guitar to kneel down next to the boy. “You okay there?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m okay. Just…” he pointed vaguely at the door. “Quite a character, that friend of yours.”

With a chuckle, Andy ruffled Yakko’s head. “You’re one to talk.” They shared a good laugh. “You wanna try Jingle Bells again?”

The cracking of Yakko’s knuckles was the only answer needed.

* * *

“Okay, so first attempt failed. Big deal! I’ll just be more careful with your other kits.” Vicky brushed off Kassie’s silent agitation.

“Don’t you dare say it’s ‘No big deal’!” Kassie hissed. “The kids have gotten a full blown panic attack because of a broken vase before! You need to be gentle.”

“I will. I will.” Vicky noticed the disbelief on Kassie’s face. “Girl. I’m sorry okay? I’m just so excited for you and Andy. I mean how can I not be?” She took both of Kassie’s paws in her own. “You finally get to be _the_ thing you were created to be. And don’t give me that face, you know it’s true.”

Kassie exhaled, pulling her hands out of Vicky’s. “This isn’t about me, Vick. It’s about them. I’m not going to call myself their mother, that’s for them to decide.” She continued walking passed the stairs. “Now come on, then. Wakko should be-”

She was cut off by someone walking down the stairs. Dot came down with a book and in her new favorite outfit, a pink shirt with a white flower pattern and a purple skirt. Kassie shot Vicky a warning look before addressing the youngest Warner.

“Hey, Dot.” The girl just waved as she continued to read her book. “What are you reading?”

Dot shrugged as she plopped down on the couch. “Some crappy romance novel about a pig and a wolf who fall in love, but the wolf’s dad is against it or something.”

“Oh, I read that one! It’s so bad!” Vicky exclaimed. “What chapter are you on?”

Dot looked up from her book, finally noticing the guest. “Uhh… Chapter five? Who are you?”

Vicky, much calmer than with Yakko this time, went over to Dot and held out a hand to her. “Victoria Lynne, Vicky for short. I’m a friend of Kassie’s.”

“We worked on the same show together.” Kassie clarified.

Shaking Vicky’s hand, Dot introduced herself. “I’m Dot, call me Dottie and you die.”

A little taken aback by that comment, Vicky chuckled nervously. She decided it might be time to leave her alone and meet this ‘Wakko’ Kassie mentioned.

“Well, it was nice to meet you. Your brother sure wasn’t lying about you being the cute one. Have fun with your book.” Vicky walked away with Kassie to the backyard patio.

Kassie stopped in the doorway. “Oh Dot. If you think that chapter five is bad, just wait until the next chapter.”

As the door closed, Dot’s curiosity perked. She skipped ahead and read a few lines from the sixth chapter. Her face scrunched up from what she read.

“Seriously? He calls an entire wolf-pack to get rid of one pig? This is so dumb.”

She got back to the page she was just on and continued reading.

* * *

The moment the toons walked through the backdoor, Kassie held Vicky back. When Vicky was about to ask what was up, Kassie shouted.

“Wakko! I’m outside, so be careful where you throw your stuff!”

When Wakko heard her voice, he immediately dropped the roller-skates, ones that he’d been about to throw that direction, at his feet. “Okay!”

This left Vicky confused. What was he throwing and why did Kassie have to warn him? The answer came when they started walking and Vicky spotted all sorts of things strewn about the backyard. Bowling pins, horseshoes, chairs, a roll duct tape, even a rowboat!

Wakko noticed them coming and waved happily. “Kassie! Look at this!” He reached behind him, in his hammerspace, and pulled out two paddles. He threw them in the rowboat and reached into his hammerspace again, this time pulling out a baseball bat.

“Wow, that’s looking good Wakko. You picked it up real fast.” The boy absolutely beamed at the compliment. “It’s a good thing your hammerspace can’t get full.”

“Wait.” Vicky stopped her right there. “You mean to tell me that he pulled all of this out of his hammerspace?” Wakko nodded proudly. “…That’s some kid there, Kass.”

Choosing to take that as a compliment, Wakko smiled widely. “Thanks, Ms. Strange-fox lady!”

“Vicky, don’t talk about him like he’s not right in front of you.” Kassie scolded playfully. “That’s very rude.”

Vicky quickly covered up a snort. “Oh, I’m ever so sorry, my dearest friend. How can I live with myself?” She got into full actress modes. “Oh, and I haven’t even introduced myself yet either! Oh, the shame!”

The two friends shared a laugh as Wakko just watched on, feeling a little left out. When the fox knelt down, holding out her hand and introducing herself, she expected it to go similarly to the other two. What she didn’t expect was for Wakko to dig through his hammerspace and stick a piece of packaged gum in her hand. This got a good laugh out of her and she was gonna eat it, until she noticed the date.

“Seriously though.” Vicky got back on topic. “The kid has a real talent with his hammerspace, but we both know you have to store something in there first before you can get it back out. Can’t create something out of nothing.” She stood up and gestured to all the things littered in the backyard. “So where did all this stuff come from?”

Wakko shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought they were just props from the Warner Studio, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Are you gonna return it?” Vicky had to ask.

Kassie pretended to think on that question. “Mmmm… Nah.” she settled on. “The studio doesn’t seem to be missing them. Besides, I don’t think some of their belongings should be returned.”

It wasn’t often that Vicky had to play the mature friend. “Then what _are_ you gonna do with this?”

Kassie pointed to the shed in the back of the yard. “We’ve just expanded our shed and stored Wakko’s things in there. We might keep it, or sell it. We haven’t really decided yet.”

“Expanded?!” Vicky was in shock. “Girl! The last time I went into your shed I needed a map to not get lost! How much clutter does the kit have?”

“I haven’t cleaned out since 1940!” Wakko happily chimed in. “I didn’t even know I had to.”

* * *

They let Wakko get back to de-cluttering his hammerspace and went back inside. Vicky had to sit down. These kids were…something. Yakko had been normal enough, though that might’ve been because of her overexcited behavior scaring him. Then when she met Dot, she expected a cute little girl and while she certainly was cute, her ‘call me Dottie and you die’ comment caught her completely off guard. She made a mental note to ask about that. And lastly Wakko’s hammerspace abilities. She’d met famous toons who couldn’t even pull half the stuff out of their hammerspace!

A glass of milk was placed on the table in front of her. “You doing okay there?” the smug voice of her best friend asked.

“Yeah. Your kits just…were not what I was expecting.” Vicky confessed.

Kassie gave up on correcting her by now. “Yeah, well. If you’d called beforehand I could have warned you.”

“That still would’ve ruined the surprise visit, hun.” The fox kept defending her actions. “I’m going to the little lady’s room. Be right back.”

As Vicky walked down the hallway, she barely missed walking into Dot who stormed down the stairs. She threw herself on the couch next to Kassie.

“I was wondering where you went.” Kassie said. “How was the book?”

“Sappy, cliché, nonsensical and weird.” Dot replied shortly.

Kassie nodded along. That pretty much summed it up. “So… A good read then?”

“Yeah. Except for the part where I laid down and somehow got my hair completely tangled up.” Dot showed her the back of her head, which was indeed pretty messy. “Can you brush it for me?” she asked. “Usually I’d ask Yakko, but his butt’s been glued to the piano stool since this morning.”

Chuckling, Kassie took the hairbrush Dot held out to her. “Your brother just found something he’s passionate about.” she told the youngest Warner. “Don’t worry about it. He’ll come out of the room sooner or later.”

As on cue, the door to the music room opened and Yakko stepped out. Kassie momentarily paused brushing Dot’s hair.

Yakko caught her looking and gave a little wave. “Andy got inspiration for his song.”

“Got it.” That meant not seeing Andy for at least the next hour or two.

Seeing as the small couch was occupied by Dot and Kassie, Yakko sat down on the other couch, the one where Vicky just sat. He noticed a glass of milk on the table. Weird. There was a cup of tea for Kassie there, and he knew Dot didn’t really like milk. Then who was this for?

Shrugging, he picked up the glass and drank it. He _was_ feeling a little parched so if it wasn’t for anyone else, then he’d just take it. That was the sight that Vicky returned to.

Holding back a giggle, she stood on the other side of the table. “So, how is that milk?”

Kassie, who had been too occupied untangling Dot’s hair, turned to look at Yakko. The boy, in his confusion, hadn’t answered. “Yakko, that was for Vicky.” Kassie told him. She moved to stand up, but Vicky sat her down.

“It’s fine. I know where the kitchen is.” she told the cat. “Besides, it looks like you’re a little occupied.”

That certainly was true. When she got the knots and tangles out of Dot’s hair, they might have to look into ways to prevent it. Maybe they should look into a sleep cap, because there was no way this was just from laying while reading.

* * *

It was a little less then an hour later when Dot noticed something. Wakko had since already come inside, after storing everything in the shed, and they had been watching TV, when out of the corner of her eye she saw Yakko. He was curled up on the couch, hugging his stomach with a look of discomfort on his face. One look at Wakko told her he’d noticed too.

Kassie and Vicky had been a little too caught up in their conversation to notice. So when Dot pulled at Kassie’s arm and pointed out Yakko’s pained expression she immediately focused on him.

“Yakko? What’s wrong, hon?” She knelt down in front of him, putting a hand on his knee.

Yakko curled up tighter. “My stomach really hurts.” he groaned.

“Maybe you ate something weird.” Wakko chimed in, trying to help.

“Or maybe you should eat. You’ve been stuck on the piano since forever.” Dot added her own thoughts.

The thought of food just made Yakko nauseous, though. Vicky jumped in to help. She adjusted Yakko’s position, explaining to him that sitting straight will help him feel better. It sure didn’t feel better!

Vicky reached into her hammerspace, pulling out a full doctor’s bag. “Now then, Yakko. _Did_ you eat today?” she asked, writing down the information on a notepad.

Usually Kassie would’ve scolded her for using someone to practice her doctor’s skills on, but seeing the seriousness on her face, she dropped it this time.

With a nod, Yakko confirmed he had eaten, but nothing weird. Just the usual. When he was asked to describe his pain, he told her that it felt like his belly was all swollen up and that he felt nauseous, meanwhile Vicky was listening to his stomach.

She had an inkling of an idea of what might be going on. Still, she had to be sure.

“Have you ever had milk or dairy before today?” Vicky finally asked. When Yakko shook his head, she was pretty sure she knew it. “You might be lactose intolerant.” She put her stethoscope around her neck now that she wasn’t using it. “Of course, I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but it sounds very similar to what a friend of ours has.”

Wakko tilted his head. “What does that mean?”

While Vicky explained lactose intolerance to the kids, Kassie went to the kitchen for something to help Yakko. She remembered her creator always gave his daughter peppermint tea, or ginger slices, or even ginger tea when they were out of ginger. They should still have some ginger somewhere.

“What are you doing?” Wakko’s voice startled Kassie, causing her to nearly bang her head on the cabinet. “Sorry, did I scare you?”

“A little.” Kassie said, pulling her head out of the cabinet. “I was just looking for some ginger to help your brother’s stomach ache.”

Wakko was quick to reach into his hammerspace to pull out a full gingerbread house. “Will this help?”

Choosing not to question where he’d gotten a gingerbread house from, Kassie shook her head. “I’m not sure, Wakko.” His face fell. “But it’s really nice of you to try and help your brother, sweetie. I’m sure he appreciates the thought.”

To cheer him up, she knelt down to nuzzle him. Out of all the siblings, Wakko had taken the most liking to nuzzling. She stopped abruptly when she heard a familiar rumbling sound. Thing is, it didn’t come from her this time.

“You can purr?!”

“I can?” Wakko put his hand on his chest, feeling it vibrate. “Oh, I guess so.” That gave him an idea! “Do you think it could help Yakko feel better?”

Still a little shocked that her kitten could apparently purr, Kassie couldn’t think of an answer. “Wha- Erm… What makes you think so?” she eventually got out.

“Because I always feel better when you purr.” Wakko told her.

Kassie couldn’t help but smile at that response. “Well, the only way to know is to try, isn’t it?”

With that being said, Wakko ran straight back to the living room. He climbed onto the couch his brother was sitting and hugged him around the middle. Yakko winced at the contact. Not being used to pain was such a…well, pain!

“Not that I don’t appreciate the hug, Wak. But what are you doing?”

Wakko strained to get the purr going again, and it showed. “I’m trying to help.” he explained in short. Let’s see, what happened last time he did this?

“That’s nice of you, little brother, but I don’t really see ho-” He cut himself off when he felt a vibration in his side and heard the familiar sound of purring. Was that Wakko?

Wakko, meanwhile, was happy to get his purr started again. “I did it!” He buried his chest closer to Yakko’s side.

While still surprised, Yakko couldn’t lie. It did ease the pain a little. Before he knew it, he was purring back at Wakko. Ah, so that’s what that weird feeling in his throat was.

When Kassie returned from the kitchen and found _two_ purring kittens, she wasn’t even surprised. She just handed Yakko the ginger tea, turns out they were out of ginger after all, and sat back on the other couch next to Dot.

“So, why aren’t you joining the cuddle-pile?” she asked the youngest.

Dot shrugged. “I don’t know how to purr.” What kind of reason was that? Seeing Kassie’s confused face, Dot elaborated. “Yakko’s always helped us feel better. And now he feels bad and purring helps him feel better, so I just wanna help.” She grabbed Kassie’s shirt as she pulled herself up. “How do you purr?”

“I… I don’t really know, honestly.” Kassie confessed. “It’s just instinctual. I do it when I feel happy, or when I want to comfort one of you.” Seeing Dot’s ears droop, she tried something. “Try this. Think of something that makes you happy. As soon as you feel that purr, hold onto it.”

Dot tried it. She thought of all the fun things she and her brothers did at the studio. All the tickle fights they had, which she always lost. When she felt someone taking off her hair tie and scratch the base of her ears, that was when she felt the rumble in her throat.

So that’s what it felt like. She did as she was told and held onto that feeling, eventually feeling it better and actually hearing the rumbling. Dot immediately jumped off the couch and jumped onto the one where her brothers sat.

Now it was a true Warner cuddle-pile.

* * *

At this point Vicky decided to take her leave. Kassie saw her out, closing the door behind them to give both them and the Warners some privacy.

“You’d better take him for a check-up.” Vicky told her. “All of them, actually. I could still be wrong about the lactose intolerance, so be prepared for that.”

Kassie nodded. “I know, but thanks.”

There was just one thing Vicky wanted to know. “Do you know what’s up with that whole ‘Dottie’ thing?” Okay two things, but let’s get this one out of the way first.

“I’m not sure. That’s the first time I heard her say that.” Kassie told her. “Maybe it’s a family thing? A nickname that only her brothers can call her, maybe?”

That brings Vicky to the second thing. “In all seriousness, though. How are you holding up? I know from experience that it’s not exactly easy to take a child under your roof, let alone three!”

“Well…” Kassie drawled. “I won’t lie. I feel like I fail at this whole parenting thing sometimes.” she admitted. “I mean, I was created as a mother, but…”

“Are you kidding me?” Vicky asked in shock. “Oh honey. No one ever said parenting was gonna be easy. Mistakes will be made, on both sides mind you.” she huffed out a laugh. “I learned that the hard way when I got custody of Danny. But that doesn’t mean you’re failing. You’re still learning, so is Andy…and so are your kits.”

Kassie smiled as she pulled her friend into a hug. “Thank you, Vicky.”

“No problem at all.” Vicky said, embracing her back. Then she pulled back. “Remember, if you want me to come with you for that doctor’s visit, I’m just a phone call away.”

When the fox left, Kassie went back inside. Her kittens were still happily purring on the couch and were most likely not gonna move until the eldest felt better. Not that she blamed them. She just went upstairs with her forgotten basket of clothes to continue folding it there, to give the children some time for themselves.

And if the siblings stayed in their purring-cuddle-pile long after Yakko felt better, well, that was no-one else’s business but their own.

* * *

Later that week Yakko was indeed diagnosed with lactose intolerance. Other than that the siblings had a clean bill of health, aside from being a little underfed. But that would be easily remedied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys aren't too turned away from lactose intolerant Yakko thanks to the milk I've been hearing so much about.  
> Next chapter will be a special one~ 😉😊  
> (Also, the book Dot was reading is based on a kids musical I watched on TV as a kid.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! It's a Christmas special~!
> 
> Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever you celebrate. And to all my Dutch folks, I hope you had a nice Sinterklaas.
> 
> So this chapter doesn't take place immediately after the last one. I had no particular time in mind when I wrote this. All I had in mind was that the Warners are still new to their home with Kassie and Andy, so maybe like a month or 2 have passed?
> 
> I dunno, I don't write with time frames in mind.
> 
> Enjoy the Christmas chapter~!
> 
> (Edit: I figured out how to add pics!! The sweater drawing should be in this chapter now.)

It was a cold winter day in North Hollywood. The ground was covered in snow, something the neighborhood kids were taking full advantage of. Children of all ages were playing in the snow, making snowman and snow-angels, sledding, or just having a chaotic but fun snowball fight. Which was exactly what the Warner siblings were doing.

Ever since they started living with Kassie and Andy they hadn’t really made a lot of friends. Most of their adventures, or cartoons they supposed, were more focused on making enemies, intentional or unintentional. So when one of their few friends, a spotted lion cub toon named Ari, called them over while they were heading to the playground of course they met up with her. Which is how they found themselves in a snowball fight with Ari and her friends and brothers.

Because their group was a mix of of humans and toons, the toons had to withhold their toon-powers, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless. That is, until Ari’s parents called her.

“Aw, mom… Can’t we pleeaase stay a bit longer?” Ari tried pulling the cute eyes Dot had taught her, but it didn’t work.

“Come on now, young cub. We’ll still have to set up and decorate the tree.” her mom said.

Ari’s dad nodded in agreement. “Otherwise how is Santa going to know where to leave your presents?”

When Ari and her brothers left, the group of friends didn’t stay around much longer either, some being picked up by their parents too, others just tired or not seeing the fun in playing with a smaller group. The Warner siblings, though, they kinda just stood there in confusion. What was a Santa and what did it have to do with a tree?

Maybe Kassie or Andy knew?

* * *

When the door opened Kassie looked up from the newspaper to see her kids. “Oh, you’re home early.” she remarked. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah!” Yakko answered with a big smile. “I mean- we were going to the playground, but Ari called us over and invited us to join a snowball fight. It was so much fun!”

“It wasn’t a snowball fight, you big dumby.” Dot interjected. “It was war! And I was winning!”

Yakko rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because you used your ‘Cute eyes’ to to distract everyone who was aiming at you.” he snarked. “You know that’s cheating, right?”

“Since when do you care about fair-play, mister I’m-gonna-stand-back-to-back-with-my-sister-to-make-her-trust-me-and-then-betray-her-by-dumping-a-snowball-in-her-face?”

“I ate my snowballs.” Wakko happily jumped in.

Kassie couldn’t help but giggle at Yakko and Dot’s antics. “Alright you two, break it up. War and betrayal stays on the battlefield, soldiers, not at home.”

They still glared at each other, but then pulled away, crossing their arms. “…Fine.”

“Don’t listen to her kids!” Andy called out from the music room. “Last time I dropped a snowball on her, she held a grudge for a week!”

“That wasn’t a snowball! That was a piece of the snowman I was building and you knew that!” Kassie hissed back, clearly not over it yet. “Anyway, kids, there’s some cookies in the kitchen for you if you want some. The neighbor came by with her yearly cookie-give-away again.” Kassie had to smile. The Christmas spirit was strong in that old lady. “She even made some lactose free ones for you, Yakko.”

The trio of course immediately sprinted to the kitchen for their snacks. They found the cookies on the table, packed in a little plastic bag with their names on a tag.

The tags also said: _‘Santa is not the only one who can enjoy baked goods.’_

Santa. There’s that name again. The siblings took their bags and went back to the living room where Wakko showed the tag to Kassie.

“Who’s Santa?” he asked the cat toon.

It was a question that kind of startled Kassie. She knew they’d been locked up for a while, but the kids were created in 1930. That was at least 30 years before they were locked up, and they didn’t know about Santa? Did they not celebrate Christmas at the Warner Studio or something?!

Realizing she’d been quiet a bit too long, Kassie cleared her throat. “Uhh… Santa is the guy delivering presents to kids all around the world.” she explained vaguely, hoping to spark some sort of memory. By their blank faces and (incredibly cute) tilted heads, she guessed it failed. “You really don’t know who Santa Claus is?”

The quaint sound of Christmas-themed piano music was suddenly interrupted by a bunch of frantic notes being played. “Wait what?!” Andy rushed out the music room, staring in disbelieve at his pups. “You don’t know Santa? What has that studio been doing the last 50 Christmases?”

The dog and cat duo shared a look, unanimously deciding on what to do. Kassie put away her newspaper as Andy went over and sat down on the couch.

“Well then, gather ‘round kids.” Andy said. “It’s story-time.” The children sat down on the ground, right in front of him. “Santa Claus, or Saint Nicholas as he’s also called, is a man who lives on the North Pole. He has a workshop there. A toy-workshop where elves make all kinds of toys for children.”

Kassie took over telling the story from there. “You see, Santa is sort of…magical you could say. While the elves work on making toys, Santa is up in his office checking on all the children of the world to see if they’ve been naughty or nice that year.”

“Yeah!” Andy decided to take back telling the story. “And then each year on Christmas, he flies around in his sleigh which is pulled by reindeer to deliver the toys to all the children who made it on his ‘nice’ list. And all the naughty kids…” He paused for dramatic effect. “They get coal.”

He gasped dramatically, which Kassie shook her head at. Though even she couldn’t hide the smile on her face. “People decorate their houses to help Santa find them from all the way up in the clouds. Then he comes down the chimney to put presents, or coal, in your stockings or under the Christmas tree.”

“But what if you don’t have a chimney?” Wakko asked, referring to the fact that their house didn’t have one.

Both adults had to think about that one. Of course they weren’t going to tell them the truth, not yet. The kids deserved to feel that true Christmas wonder. “You know…” Andy spoke up first. “I’m not really sure. He doesn’t skip those houses, that much I know.”

“Oh!” Kassie snapped her fingers. “Maybe, because he’s magical he can just make chimneys and fireplaces appear out of nowhere and travel through them.”

Dot beamed as she jumped up from her sitting position. “Maybe he can use those holes, like Bugs Bunny does!” she piped up. “He can just stick them on the ground, or on the wall and walk through it.”

That was an interesting theory too. Although, Yakko had to disagree. “Using plot-holes, sis? Only toons can use those and Santa is human.” He looked back to Andy and Kassie. “He’s human, right?”

Both nodded, sparking a response from Dot. “A magical human! Maybe toon-powers are part of his magic!” she reasoned. “Why? What do you think he does?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Yakko cleared is throat. “You see, I think that he uses his magic to squeeze himself through small cracks. Like through the mail-slot!”

Not impressed in the slightest, Dot just stood there with her arms crossed. “How was that any less ridiculous than my theory?”

“Because my idea didn’t require something only toons can do.” Yakko pointed out.

“Well, maybe Santa is actually a toon in disguise!” Dot barked at her brother.

“Hey, hey, break it up.” Andy put his hands on both their shoulders. “Both your theories could be right. The truth is that we don’t know much about Santa Claus.” he told them. “I mean, the guy lives in isolation on the North Pole and only comes in while we’re sleeping. It’s not like we can ask him.”

Wakko tilted his head at the new information. “Only when we’re all sleeping? Why?”

“Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, but isn’t that a bit uuhhhhh… creepy?” Yakko asked, rightfully concerned.

A giggle escaped the cat toon. “It’s not like that, Yakko, hon. It’s just that Santa Claus is afraid.”

“Afraid?”

Kassie nodded. “He spend all year preparing the perfect toys and gifts for children, so he’s afraid of disappointing them. He delivers presents at night so he won’t have to stick around and potentially see disappointed faces.” she explained. “He’s a very sensitive man.”

The children were silent for a moment, so Andy decided to start the ‘How does Santa enter without a chimney’ theory chain again. He proposed, since Santa has to deliver presents all around the world, that Santa has control over time and thus has plenty of time to pick the locks of people’s doors.

They swapped theories for a while longer, the most interesting coming from Wakko, saying that Santa splits himself into millions and possesses parents to pick up the bag of presents from some unknown location, which they won’t remember doing.

When they’d exhausted all their ideas, the couple decided to introduce the Warner children to Santa Claus through Christmas songs, such as Santa Claus is coming to town, and through whatever movies were on TV, making sure to remind them these Santa’s were actors. After the 30th time catching the siblings sneaking into the music room to play Christmas carols, the couple was pretty sure the kids understood and were excited.

* * *

It wasn’t until he and his sibs were getting ready for bed that Yakko really started thinking. He couldn’t help but think about what Andy and Kassie told them about Santa. About what the movies taught them about the man. …About how it clashed with the years before moving in with the couple…

He didn’t want to voice these thoughts to Wakko and Dot, but the two of them caught on to Yakko’s troubled face.

“What’s wrong, Yakko?” Dot demanded, instead of asked, her hands on her hip to show she meant business.

Wakko jumped onto the bed, sitting next to his brother. “Yeah. You got that funny look on your face when you’re thinking bad things.”

Yakko snorted lightly at the phrasing. “It’s nothing, sibs.”

The younger siblings gave each other a knowing look. “You mean the ‘It’s a big deal, but I don’t wanna bother you with my problems’ nothing?” Dot guessed, dryly. “Or the ‘It’s a big deal, but you’re too young for this’ nothing?”

“Or is it the ‘It’s a big deal, but I don’t want to disappoint you or make you sad’ nothing?” Wakko chimed in.

“Either way it’s a big deal, don’t lie to us.” Dot scolded.

With a groan, Yakko face-planted into his pillow. Sometimes he really hated that his sibs could read him just as well as he could read them. “The last one…” he muttered into his pillow.

It was muffled, but Wakko and Dot heard nonetheless. He didn’t want to disappoint them or make them sad? What could that be about?

“Please tell us, big brother.” Yakko shook his head. “Pretty please?” He still shook his head furiously. Darn big brothers and their immunity to cuteness. “Come on, Yakko! Just tell us!” Dot finally barked.

The elder sibling’s head finally popped up from the pillow. “Fine! You wanna know?!” He glared at his siblings, Dot in particular. “We’ve never gotten gifts from Santa before, so why would we now?!” Then he dumped his face back in the pillow, his anger sizzling out.

“What?” The younger duo gasped.

Yakko wiped the angry tears away before taking his face out of his pillow again. “Andy said that Santa gives presents to good kids and coal to bad ones.” he grumbled. “We never got anything. No presents or coal. So what does that mean?”

“Maybe… Maybe he couldn’t find us!” Wakko blurted. “Right? Maybe he didn’t know where we were.”

“Y-yeah!” Dot hastily agreed. “He delivers presents to houses, right? We never lived in a house until now!”

What Wakko and Dot said sounded reasonable enough, but Yakko couldn’t help but doubt it. The younger siblings could see that Yakko was still doubtful, which in turn made them doubt their own excuses.

Wakko’s ears drooped. “Were we really that bad that we didn’t even deserve coal?”

“Well…we did apparently cause millions of dollars of damage…” Dot began listing off. “And we drove our creator insane… And we probably hurt a lot of people with our pranks- Oh my gosh, we were that bad, weren’t we?”

“But- But we couldn’t help that!” Wakko cried. “Santa’s gotta know that, right?!”

When none of his siblings answered, his ears drooped even more. They’d been bad kids… So bad that even coal was too much of a gift…

“So, what are we gonna do now?” Dot asked, voice wavering. “What if we’re still on the naughty-list? What if we’re getting nothing _again_ this year?”

“I guess there’s only one thing we can do, sibs.” Yakko finally spoke, after an uncharacteristic silence. “Be nice. Behave and do good deeds and all that.” His sibs nodded, it seemed logical enough. “Maybe we won’t get on the nice-list, but maybe we could get bumped down the naughty-list enough to at least get coal.”

Yakko looked around their little circle. Both Wakko and Dot nodded at him. So it was agreed. Operation: ‘Be on your best behavior’ starts tomorrow.

* * *

The next day came and the siblings began their mission. They were on their best behavior the moment they jumped out of bed. When asked if Wakko wanted the leftover waffles he even said ‘Yes, please’ instead of the usual ‘Don’t mind if I do’. That earned a few funny faces from both adults, but otherwise no issues.

When Kassie announced that they were going to start decorating today the kids couldn’t be happier. They followed her and Andy upstairs to the storage room and watched as they got all the Christmas decorations out. This could be their first good deed.

Yakko eyed his siblings, seeing that they were all on the same page. “Should we bring these downstairs?” he asked the older duo.

“Oh, ehmm…” Kassie hesitated a little, stepping out of the storage room for a second. “Yes, but let me check first.” She opened the boxes to look at the contents, shoving a few to the side. “Okay. These…” she gestured to the two boxes on the side. “Are decorations for upstairs. If you can handle it, you can bring the others downstairs.”

The siblings smiled widely, saluting her in a soldier way. “You can count on us!” they said in unison, each taking a box and sprinting down the stairs. They barely even heard Kassie telling them to slow down and be careful.

When they put the boxes down and peeked in them they found a box filled with tinsel and lights for the tree, another with other tree decorations, and the third held decorations for around the house. Just by looking at the decorations, the siblings found so many ways to place them around the house.

But they had to refrain. The Tenden’s probably had their own way of doing things, and them meddling would be naughty. They couldn’t be naughty.

Leaving the boxes there, they sprinted back up to get another few boxes. While they took the decorations, Andy and Kassie brought the artificial tree downstairs.

When the couple came downstairs and saw the kids just standing there, not opening boxes, grabbing stuff and the like, they were a little confused. This was unlike them.

“Kids, why don’t you get a head start with the decorating?” Kassie prompted gently. “You can leave the lights for now, but you can set up other things if you’d like.”

Nodding, Andy opened the box with the tree. “Yeah, yo- Kassie and I will be busy setting the tree up for now.” he added, swallowing back a ‘your mom’ just in time. “You’re creative kids, I’m sure you can think of some nice places for decorations.”

With permission given, the children dove for the boxes and excitedly began decorating. Putting Christmas-themed table cloths on the living room and dining room tables, setting the wooden Christmas tree on the desk, you name it.

While Kassie and Andy were setting up the tree, they gave each other a knowing look. Something was up with their pup-kits. They were way more…held back? Almost like when they _just_ moved in all over again.

“Maybe it’s just the Christmas-jitters.” Andy reasoned. “Just give it a little time. This is their first Christmas after all.”

Kassie nodded reluctantly. “Yeah… Okay. But if it gets worse-”

“You can whack me over the head and call me stupid.” Andy interrupted.

The tree was finally set up after a few minutes and ready to decorate. They called the kids, who dropped what they were doing almost immediately, and informed them it was time to decorate the tree.

“So, how do you need these decorations?” Yakko asked. “By color? Size? Some weird convoluted pattern that we need to know?”

He stopped when he heard Kassie giggling. “Of course not, hon. You can just do it at random.” she told him. “Just try to space it and cover the whole tree, but other than that, just have fun with it.”

* * *

Decorating went off without a hitch. The paren- eerrr _caretakers_ had to compliment the placements of some of the decorations the kids put up. They sure never thought of putting the wooden light-up reindeer in the window seat with other little reindeer behind it. All it needed was a sleigh and it was was complete, though there wasn’t a lot of room left.

“Hmmm… Maybe a sleigh pillow…” Kassie mussed. “What do you guys think?” she turned back to her children. “A little sleigh pillow here? It’ll work with your reindeer decorations and make it seem like they’re pulling a sleigh.”

“Yeah!” “That’ll look great!” “Do we have one?”

Kassie shook her head. “No, we don’t.” she said. “But I’m sure the store has pillows like that. I’ll just go and see tomorrow.”

“We can go!” the trio exclaimed in unison. Another chance at a good deed.

The cat’s head perked up in confusion. “‘scuse me?”

“We can go to the store and find it.” Yakko repeated to her. “I mean…can we?” Gotta remember to ask permission politely. It’s the nice thing to do.

Now Kassie was getting concerned. The kids never volunteered for anything. Sure they did a task when it was asked of them, she and Andy didn’t ask much of them, but they’ve never volunteered to do a task, especially not this eagerly.

Wiping the confused and concerned look off her face, she made eye contact with her boyfriend. Seeing this, he nodded and put down the box he was cleaning up. “Why don’t I go? There’s a few things I had to get anyway, so I might as well.”

As Kassie thanked her boyfriend for this, she noticed the children’s ears droop slightly. Strange… “Well, I don’t know about you three, but I could sure use some fresh air.” Kassie said after Andy had left. “Do you wanna come to the park with me?”

* * *

What Kassie was observing in the park wasn’t good. Sure the kids agreed to come with her, but they didn’t seem to be enjoying themselves at all. At the playground her kids enjoyed, Dot kept letting kids who cut the line go in front. Usually she was way more verbal and wouldn’t back down from her spot. When one of Yakko’s friends came by asking him to play distraction for a harmless, fun little prank, Yakko refused.

Yakko would never refuse an opportunity to play distraction, especially since it meant he could talk up a storm. And from what Kassie could hear, it really was just a harmless prank. They were just going to climb a tree and dump a snowbank from the branches on a friend’s head.

And Wakko had outright refused to join a snowball fight, as had the other two when they were asked. Yesterday they’d talked about how much they enjoyed it. Not to mention this was a fight with only toons, so they were allowed to use toon-powers. There was no way Wakko, with his affinity for physical comedy toon-powers would refuse that.

What was wrong with her kittens? Dot lost her spark and attitude, Yakko didn’t want to talk for a prank and Wakko refused a chance to show off his toon-powers by eating the snowballs thrown at him.

The kicker and absolute last straw was when another child got his ball stuck in a tree. All three Warners yelled ‘I’ll get it!’ before rushing to the three in a hurry to climb up.

Kassie was on her feet immediately when they did this, but she was too late. Wakko, who’d managed to climb up to the ball, broke the branch he was sitting on and fell down. His siblings were still up in the tree, fighting over who’d get the ball when this happened, so they couldn’t catch him. The middle child fell on the ground hard, grasping his arm after impact.

“Wakko!” Kassie shrieked, falling on her knees next to her kitten. “Wakko, honey, are you okay?” her eyes fell on his arm, which he was still clutching. “Are you hurt? Can you show me?” Wakko shook his head, teary-eyed. “Sweetie, please show me you arm.”

This time Wakko reluctantly removed his hand. The wound wasn’t too bad, just a nasty scrape. It wasn’t even bleeding, but Kassie licked it clean anyways. Gathering up her kitten in her arms, she turned to the duo who’d just gotten down the tree.

“We’re going home.”

* * *

“What has been going on with you three? You haven’t been acting like yourselves all day.” Kassie asked them after sitting them down on the couch. “At first Andy and I figured it was just Christmas-jitters, but your strange behavior has gone above and beyond that!”

The siblings winced. It wasn’t often that they actually got scolded. One look at Andy told them he wasn’t gonna be much help either.

The older dog stepped forward and knelt down in front of them. “Care to explain what’s been going on?” he asked kindly, yet sternly.

Neither one of them answered. Dot suddenly found her feet more interesting to look at and Wakko was too busy picking at his bandage to look at Andy, leaving Yakko to have to spill the beans.

His tail tapped on the couch in a nervous tic as he told them. “We were just trying to do nice things.” he muttered just loud enough.

Kassie sighed heavily. “I get that, honey, but there’s doing nice things and there’s recklessly climbing a tree with dead branches that could snap any second.”

“We’re sorry.”

The woman tried to calm herself down. “Just… Please tell us why you felt the need to do these nice things- That came out completely wrong.”

“Yeah, a little.” Andy chuckled. “But she does have a point.”

“Because we want to get off the naughty list.” Wakko spilled.

Dot nodded. “Yeah! Or at least be less bad so we’ll at least get coal.”

“Wha- Where did this come from?” both caretakers were shocked. “Why do you think you’re on the naughty list?” Kassie asked gently, earlier anger forgotten.

It was Yakko who burst this time. “Because we’ve never ever gotten any gifts, or coal for that matter. And with all the things we did at Warner Studios I-”

“Hold it right there, young man.” Kassie had to interrupt her oldest. “You and I both know that you couldn’t exactly help your actions at the studio. No one there was willing to help you and left you to your own devices, expecting you to know exactly what to do and how to behave at all times, when that was just not possible. You know it. I know it. And I’m sure Santa knows it too.”

“But what about-”

“The presents?” Andy cut in this time. The trio nodded. “I’m sure there’s an explanation for that, kiddo. Maybe he was just never able to find you? Where did you stay when there weren’t any recordings?”

The trio was silent, afraid how these people, who cared about them a whole lot more than any execs ever did, were gonna react. “Well…” Yakko drawled. “They kinda… sorta… uuuhhhhh…” They were still waiting for an answer. “…made us stay in a toon-proof room?”

“But it had beds!” “Well…mattresses, but we had blankets! Thick ones.” Wakko and Dot chimed in.

Andy’s anger rose, but Kassie was almost about to fly into a full mama-cat rage. ‘As soon as we’re able, we’re calling TPS on those sons of-’

“We’re getting of topic.” Andy struggled to get out in a calm tone. He took another deep breath, sitting his girlfriend down on the other couch to calm down herself. “If you were in a - grrr - toon-proof room for that long and then locked up in the water tower - grrrr - it makes sense that Santa wouldn’t be able to find you.” He couldn’t hold back the growls of anger.

“So… So we’re not bad kids?” Wakko asked.

Kassie rushed over to pull all the kids into a hug. “Of course you’re not.” she said softly. “You three are such good kids. If Santa doesn’t see that, then clearly we’ll need to go to the North Pole and give him a stronger pair of glasses.”

That luckily earned a few smiles and chuckles from the children, but just for good measure she purred for them anyways. When they were actually feeling better, they purred back at the woman they’ve come to see as their mom.

While the purring-pile was comforting each other on the couch, Andy had slipped away to the kitchen. Phone in hand he dialed a familiar number.

“Hey, it’s Andy. Get the gang together, I need a favor.”

* * *

After dinner that evening, Kassie convinced the Warners to write their letters to Santa. It was more trouble than they - that being the children _and_ Kassie - were expecting. They had come as far as ‘Dear Santa’ before they got stuck.

“What are we supposed to write him?” Dot asked.

Kassie had to think about that for a moment. Since she was drawn as an adult, she never wrote a letter, not even in her Christmas specials. “Well, you can write Santa about the things you’ve done this year. Then ask him a few presents you’d like.”

“What we’ve done this year?” Wakko wondered.

The older toon smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Most experience I have with these letters comes from movies. Children write things like ‘Dear Santa. I’ve been very nice this year. I’ve helped a friend with a problem, so they don’t have that problem anymore. All I want for Christmas is-’ and then add a list of presents.”

Wakko and Dot, getting the gist of things, started working on their letters again with big smiles. Yakko was a little slower than his siblings and struggled a bit more, but he eventually got to writing as well.

Kassie let out a quiet sigh of relief. Oh, she wished Andy didn’t have to meet up with that friend of his. He was so much better in the creative writing department. Heck, in one of their Christmas specials he had a little brother, a toon from another studio, and helped him write his letter to Santa. He had experience.

“How’s this?” Kassie had to jump back as Wakko shoved his letter in her face.

‘ _Dear Santa._

_I haven’t been so good this year, but I’ve been trying. Since moving away from the studio, I’ve been getting better at not accidentally hurting people. I hope you can find us this year._

_All I want for Christmas is-’_

He hadn’t written down what presents he wanted. “It looks great Wakko.” Kassie told him. “But don’t forget to write what you want, okay?”

The middle child nodded and sat back down right as Dot walked up. “Is mine okay?”

‘ _Dear Santa._

_I’ve been trying my best to be nice this year. Back at the studio we didn’t know we were being bad, but we do now and we’re behaving. Did you ever find us at the studio?_

_What I’d like for Christmas is maybe some new hair accessories? I love my flower hair tie, but I also wanna try something else. Can you also get me a new mallet? My old one is still at the studio because it was ‘their property’ or something. If you can’t, can I get that pretty pink bunny plushy?_

_Thank you~_

_Love, Dot Warner.’_

“Very nice, Dot. Looks like yours is good as done.” She handed the youngest Warner her letter back. “I’m going to grab some envelopes. We can send your letters off tomorrow if you’re all done.”

When Kassie came back with three envelopes Wakko had also finished his letter. He also asked for a new mallet, probably copying it from his sister’s letter, and also a couple durable smashing dummies.

Yakko took the longest with his letter, but he also managed to finish eventually. Instead of asking Kassie to check, though, he just took the envelope and was done with it. I mean, not that he _had_ to show her. It was just surprising considering that his siblings did.

“There. Now we’ll just have to send them tomorrow.”

* * *

That night Kassie snuck out of bed while everyone was sleeping. Her curiosity was killing her! She quietly went downstairs and grabbed the envelope she knew was Yakko’s. Luckily this kitty had nightvision.

‘ _Dear Santa._

_To be honest, I haven’t been very good this year. Before Kassie and Andy took us in, I did some bad stuff at the studio. So I understand if you’ll ignore my letter._

_I won’t ask for a lot this Christmas. Maybe just a sled that my sibs and I can enjoy. The only thing I really want is a promise that me and my siblings will never be locked in the water tower again. Please?_

_We finally have a home and people around us who are nice to us. I don’t want that to be taken away. I don’t want to be taken from the only people I’d consider parents._

_Even if it’s all I’ll get, I just want that promise._

_\- Yakko Warner.’_

Teardrops fell on the letter as Kassie let out a quiet sob. Was Yakko really this afraid that they’d get locked up again? Did he really think she and Andy would let that happen? As she put the letter back in the envelope she made a note to talk to her oldest boy in the morning.

* * *

The next day Andy woke everyone up early. Apparently he’d found out where Santa’s special mailbox was. The children were immediately up and getting ready, while Kassie woke up dazed and confused. Special mailbox?

Well, they were about to find out soon enough. The kids were practically ready to skip breakfast for this, not that the adults would let them. After breakfast, though, Wakko and Dot raced out the door with Andy quickly following to make sure they went the right way.

This left Kassie to get the letters and Yakko to get the scarves they forgot.

Actually this was perfect. “Yakko, before you run after Wakko and Dot, can I talk to you?”

“Uhh… Sure?”

Closing the door behind the, she decided to talk while they walked. “I’m sorry, but I read your letter last night.”

Yakko went a little tense. “Oh…”

“Sweetheart.” Kassie stopped and turned the kid to face her. “Even if Santa can’t help, I can promise you one thing. I will fight tooth and nail if it means keeping you far away from that water tower.” She knelt down to nuzzle his forehead. “Andy and I talked about this on the first day I brought you home. No one will be taking you away. We won’t let them.”

No longer able to hold the tears, Yakko threw himself in Kassie’s arms. She, in turn, kept nuzzling him and whispering reassuring words. It didn’t take long, but long enough for the rest of the family to get worried and head back.

“Yakko?” the younger siblings called out, slightly worried to find their big brother like that. “Are you alright?” Wakko asked, tugging his scarf lightly.

Yakko huffed out a relieved laugh. “Yeah, baby brother. I’m fine now.” He let go of Kassie to hand his younger sibs their scarves. “Now come on! Let’s go find that mailbox!”

“Yeah!” The trio ran off following Andy, but not before Yakko told Kassie ‘Thanks’.

It wasn’t long before the family found what Andy was talking about. A very decorative mailbox was standing next to the regular one. It definitely hadn’t been there before. It certainly looked real.

“Well then.” Andy commented. He bend down to pick up Wakko, Kassie doing the same for Dot. “Let’s post your letters, shall we?”

The three of them were given their letters and, all at the same time, pushed them into the mail slot. The decorations on the mailbox lit up for a few seconds before dying out again. The letters were posted.

While the kids did a little celebratory dance, the couple stood a little to the side. “So, are you gathering them later, or…?”

“Tyler’s got me covered on that. Don’t worry, Kass.”

* * *

Christmas day had barely arrived when the kids woke up from the ruckus downstairs. They were immediately on high alert. Did Santa come already? They decided it was worth the potential scolding and rushed down the stairs to check.

Presents… There were presents under the tree!! Oh they could cheer if they weren’t supposed to be asleep right now.

“Couldn’t wait, could you?”

The lights turned on, blinding the already startled Warners. When they could see again, first thing they saw was Kassie by the light switch. But unlike the scowl they were expecting, she just smiled.

“I kinda figured you wouldn’t be able to. Though, to be honest…” She sat down in front of the tree. “Neither could I.”

“Wait for me! Wait for me!” Andy exclaimed, pounding down the stairs in a hurry. “There is no way that we’re missing these photo moments!”

When Andy was downstairs, he gave the okay for the kids to unpack their presents. And unpack they did. Wakko barely even made sure if it was his present he unpacked, while Dot shoved aside any present that wasn’t hers and Yakko carelessly ripped away at the wrapping paper.

In short, Andy had a hard time keeping up with the photo moments…

Wakko and Dot were incredibly happy to find the mallets they asked for in their presents. There were also two adult sized dummies for Wakko to go with it. The sled Yakko wanted was also among the gifts as well as a mallet for him. While he was more about verbal humor, he did like the occasional whacking. Dot immediately fell in love with the new hair ties and bows and all the like that she got.

There were even a few presents they didn’t ask for which weren’t Santa’s, they were from Andy and Kassie. The trio each got a sweater with a little text on them. Yakko’s was lavender and said ‘I’m a punny guy’. Wakko’s was light blue with darker blue horizontal stripes and read ‘My favorite food is everything’. And Dot’s was pink with thin white horizontal stripes and said ‘I’m the cute one’.

They seemed to like the gifts, if the hugs and content purrs were anything to go by. At some point Andy went upstairs to get another roll for the camera, when Wakko found another small present.

It was for Yakko. He gave it to his big brother, who opened it and looked at the contents in confusion. It was just a folded scrap of paper. He took it out to see if there was anything underneath it, but nothing.

“Yakko, I think there’s something written on it.” Kassie noted.

Oh, so there was. Yakko unfolded the paper and read what was written on it. He couldn’t help but leak a few tears. Happy tears that is. Kassie embraced her child from behind as she read along with the letter.

‘ _My dearest Yakko._

_I can assure you that you and your siblings have not been as naughty as you seem to believe. Your behavior has been excusable, so don’t you fret about that._

_Even so, I cannot make you that promise, my boy. I am many miles away for most of the year. However, I have been watching you in your new home and I believe there are a certain two toons who could keep that promise for me._

_I cannot give you my promise to protect you and your siblings._

_But I can give you my promise that your parents will._

_Best regards, Santa Claus.’_

“And I’m intending to keep that promise up.” Kassie told him softly. She had to give it to her creator’s daughter. The girl really had a way with words.

Suddenly there was a knocking on the door. The family looked up in confusion. It was nearly 2am, who could that be at this time? Andy came running down the stairs with a bat, just in case, and slowly opened the door. From where Kassie and the kids sat, they couldn’t see anything. Andy looked left, then right and finally down, which was when he took a step back.

He chuckled. “Kids, I think this is for you.”

The siblings looked at each other, then cautiously walked to the door, Wakko and Dot were pushed behind their big brother. When they were close enough to the door, Andy threw it open, revealing a bag nearly overflowing with presents. There was a note on the bag which Andy snatched and read out loud.

“My apologies for not bringing these earlier. I was never able to find you before now. I had no idea what you wanted for Christmas, since I never received your letters, so I hope these presents will do. I saved them all these years. Best regards, Santa Claus.”

“He did get us presents!” “He just couldn’t find us!” “We weren’t naughty all those years!” The siblings jumped and cheered before they nearly dove into the bag of presents.

The faint sound of bells suddenly caught their attention. The five of them looked around, searching for it. Then Dot gasped. “Look! Up there!”

She pointed to the houses on the other side of the street. There, flying above the roofs, was a sleigh pulled by reindeer. It was Santa Claus!

“Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas Yakko, Wakko and Dot! Merry Christmas to you all!”

* * *

While Kassie tried convincing the children to go to bed, the phone rang. Andy got it quickly before it caught anyone’s attention.

“Hello?” he whispered.

“ _Andy? It’s Tyler.”_

Andy couldn’t stop a grin from forming. “Tyler! What you did out there was amazing! I’ve never seen the kids happier! I definitely owe you one.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. _“Andy, what are you talking about? The plan flopped.”_ Wait what? _“The reindeer I asked got a late night gig and left me in the dust.”_

“Wait, what?” Now Andy was confused. If that hadn’t been Tyler flying out there then…

He was pulled from his thoughts by a happy shrieking Dot. Seems they convinced Kassie to let them open one more present. He looked around the corner to see what it was and grew even more confused. “H-hey Ty, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

“ _Hey wait! What goi-”_ * _ **Click**_ *

Andy’s eyes stayed on the shawl in Dot’s hands. That had not been among the presents he and his buds wrapped. Come to think of it, neither was the train-set Wakko had next to him. Did his buds find more things their kids didn’t use and did they just not tell him?

Wait- no, that couldn’t be. He’d dropped off the bag at Anna’s place. His friends didn’t know Anna, so how-?

He looked at the window, zoning out as Kassie brought the children upstairs. His eyes caught on to a gift laying on the window seat. That hadn’t been there earlier. Unwrapping it, he found a sleigh shaped pillow. The same kind that Kassie had been talking about earlier that week. He hadn’t bought it, and he was sure Kassie hadn’t either. Then who-?

Andy huffed, smiling down at the pillow. “Christmas really is a magical time of year, isn’t it?” He looked out the window, where it had just begun snowing. “Merry Christmas, Theodore… Wish you could’ve been here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the 'Christmas lights guiding Santa's way' from a Phineas and Ferb episode. No idea if it's accurate, but I liked it.
> 
> (Also, I've never written a letter to Santa before, because we celebrate something else, so I hope these letters are okay)
> 
> Just for context: The sibs are wearing pajamas, hence the possible odd coloring, and Dot doesn't have her hair curlers yet at this point.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note. This chapter takes place before the Christmas chapter.
> 
> So I figured out how to add pics on here. Now I could add the cover I was talking about on the first chapter like I was planning, but the thing is... I don't really like that drawing and am anxious about showing it.  
> I'll edit it if I change my mind, but if not... Sorry? 😓
> 
> Fun fact: While writing this, I miss-remembered Dot’s full name and almost wrote an entire chapter calling her Angelica instead of Angelina.
> 
> (Also, I found out that it apparently doesn't snow in North Hollywood... Whoops 😅😆)

The feeling of the toon-proof net was one Dot was used to by now. They’d capture her and her big brothers, lock them behind the logo of the water tower and leave them there. It was a normal event by now.

Or…it used to be. So why…

Why was she in a net now?! And where were her brothers? The net jostled her and she turned to glare at the person carrying the net. The person wasn’t someone she recognized, but what she did recognize was the looming tower straight ahead. No… No way this was happening!

She reached behind her, desperately trying to access her hammerspace. Maybe she hadn’t gotten as much practice as Wakko, but she still knew how to pull out a thing or two, and right now she needed scissors! Nothing worked… It didn’t work! She couldn’t use her hammerspace and the tower was getting closer!!

It was too late. Dot was ruthlessly thrown in the tower, net and all. Her captor stood by the closing door, watching Dot struggle to get out of the net.

The figure laughed. “Aww…Don’t look like that, Dottie.” it said. Dot couldn’t even tell if the voice was male or female. “You should’ve known better, little Dottie.” Stop calling her that! She hated that name! Why couldn’t she speak? “Poor Dottie put her trust in a toon again, and was betrayed…again. Did you really think that cat and dog were gonna be different, little Dottie girl? Poor you…”

Dot finally escaped the net and rushed for the door. It slammed closed in her face.

“No!” Dot finally found her voice again. “No! Let me out! I’ll be good, I promise!” She banged on the door as hard as her non-toon powered fists could. “Please!”

“Dot, please…” Dot startled at the broken voice of her eldest brother. “Don’t make it harder than it already is.”

Why was Yakko here? He hadn’t been there earlier had he? Oh gosh, it was so dark. Why was it so dark? Where’s Yakko? Wakko? Why were they back in the tower? Where were Kassie and Andy? They couldn’t have… No… No! NOO!!

* * *

Dot startled awake with a jolt, gasping for breath. Was that…just a dream? She glanced around the room in a frantic panic. Still half awake, she couldn’t recognize her surroundings. It was too dark to see. Too dark. Too dark! Throwing the covers off herself, she rushed to the door and swung it open. The hallway…it was still too dark!

She rushed around the hallway and took a sharp right where she saw the wall end. Her body slammed straight into a baby-gate by the stairs. Nononononono! She had to get out. Out. Out! Out of the dark tower! She frantically pulled at the baby-gate, but it didn’t budge. She kept pulling it until she’d exhausted herself, which was when her mind started to clear a little. All of a sudden, she recognized her surroundings again. She recognized the baby-gate as the one Andy and Kassie decided to buy after her, Yakko and Wakko’s tumble down the stairs. That meant… That meant she was still home. No one gave her back to the studio. This wasn’t the tower. She wasn’t betrayed again.

The exhausted girl fell on the floor, leaning her back against the baby-gate as she hugged her knees. Her nightmare played back in her mind and that little ‘What if’ voice wouldn’t leave her thoughts. What if it would happen? What if the dream was a possible future? What if it already happened and _this_ was a dream?

What if - _“Dot?”_ \- Kassie and Andy were planning - _“Dot?”_ \- to give them back and lock them up and - _“Dot!”_ \- leave them and - _“DOT!”_

When two hands took hold of her shoulders, Dot startled and struggled away from them. She wouldn’t be caught! She was strong! She could kick their a-

“Dot? Hey, hey Dot. It’s me. It’s Andy.” the voice belonging to the hands spoke. “Dot, darling, it’s safe. You’re safe, baby girl.” Wait, she knew that voice. That was… “Come on, Dottie, talk to me.”

A-andy? “D-don’t call me Dottie.” Dot weakly whimpered through sobs.

Andy let out a sigh of relief. “There she is.” He placed his hands on her cheeks, wiping away the tears even though they’d only be replaced by more. “What’s wrong, sweetie? Why are you crying?”

It took a few hiccups before Dot could answer. “N-nightmare…” She curled up tighter as she recalled what happened in her dream. “Bad one…”

“Hey now, don’t cry, kiddo.” Andy said softly, wiping away the new tears again. “You’re alright. It wasn’t real.” He gently pulled her closer, rubbing circles on her back. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Dot was silent. What was there to talk about? She didn’t want confirmation. “You gave us back.” she hiccuped. The context wasn’t lost on Andy. “You- You made us trust you, just to give us back and lock us up.” ‘Just like _she_ did.’

“Dot… Hey baby girl, look at me.” Dot reluctantly did. “I can promise you one thing right now. And that is that Kassie and I will fight every single person who even thinks about locking you up again.” he told her with as much determination as he could manage. “None of you are going back in that tower. Not unless the studio wants to deal with two rampaging toons and a law-suit.” He then smiled and booped Dot’s nose. “You’re staying right here with us, young lady.”

Dot yelped as Andy suddenly stood up with her in his arms. He walked her over to her shared bedroom. When Dot saw into the room and noticed just how dark it was, she clung tighter to Andy, something that didn’t escape Andy’s notice. So he instead pulled the door close and brought Dot to his bedroom.

Dot’s grip didn’t slacken until the older toon turned on his bedside lamp. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Dot?” And then it tensed again.

“No?” That sounded way more like a question then Dot intended, and if Andy’s face was any indication, it wasn’t very believable either. “It’s stupid.” she settled for.

“It’s not stupid if it scares you.” Andy tried to reassure her.

“But it is!” Dot snapped loudly, which Andy had to shush her for. “I gotta be strong. I can’t be scared. Especially not of something dumb like the dark…”

The dark, huh? That’s not surprising all things considered. “It’s completely understandable if you’re afraid of the dark. Trust me, I know all about that…” He stared ahead blankly, recalling his own trauma induced fear. “My creator once told me ‘Sometimes, the strongest thing you can do is admit that you’re afraid’.”

“You don’t understand…” Dot mumbled. “I’m the youngest, so I have to be strong. If I’m not my brothers will just have _another_ thing to worry about.”

“But you don’t have to fake being strong.” Andy told her. “You’re allowed to have moments of weakness. I understand not wanting to put more worry onto someone else, but sometimes it’s the best thing you can do.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “For example: I have a crippling case of claustrophobia. I didn’t want to burden my friends with it, since they had their own worries and issues, so I kept it to myself. It worked out fine, until one day my creator asks me to get something from the storage room. As you can probably imagine, I got locked in.” Andy gulped down the fear of that memory. “It took I-don’t-even-remember-how-long before someone got me out of there. I wouldn’t have gotten into that situation if I’d just told someone.”

Dot’s ears drooped low after he’d finished the story. “‘m sorry.”

Andy shook his head. “You don’t have to be. Just know that Kassie and I are always here to help, or even just to listen. Okay?”

“…‘m scared of the dark…” Dot confessed, half mumbled with her face pressed to Andy’s chest. “‘s too much like the tower.”

That damn tower… One day he was gonna burn it to the ground. Burn the cause of his puppies traumas and fears. “I guess we’ll have to get you a nightlight then.” Andy uttered softly. “Do you know if Yakko and Wakko are afraid of the dark too?”

Dot shrugged. “Wouldn’t surprise me…”

“Well, do you think you can go to sleep in your room like that?” Dot tensed up in his arms. “I didn’t think so. Dumb question.” Then Andy got an idea. “Maybe a bedtime story would help?” Dot shrugged again, at this point she was willing to try anything.

* * *

_Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, lay a village. And in that village grew a beautiful pink and golden flower. It was very special to the villagers, as there hardly grew any flowers there._

_Then one day, the villagers woke up to a baby crying. They found that the flower had grown overnight, and a baby girl that lay right in the middle of the now-open petals._

_A kind lady decided to take the baby and raise her as her own. And she named the baby Dot._

“ _ **What? No! Name her something else! Something cuter!”**_

“ _ **Okay, okay. What did you have in mind?”**_

“ _ **Ehm… Oh! Like Louisa! Or-or Francesca! Oh! No, no, no wait! Angelina!”**_

“ _ **Alright then, Dot.”**_

_So the lady named the baby Angelina. As Angelina grew older, she became a bit of an odd one. The villagers were confused when Angelina constantly referred to herself as a princess. The lady who raised her wasn’t of royal blood. But Angelina was convinced she was a princess. A princess in rags, but still a princess._

_The village children would always tell her; “You’re not a princess!”_

_To which Angelina would say;_ _**“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were the expert on princesses, your jerkness.”** _

“ _ **Nice one, Dot.”**_ _Though the princess was happy, she always felt like something was missing. Like something wasn’t right._

_In the village there also lived a cranky old man, who didn’t like Angelina. So when he overheard her telling her mother that she felt like something was missing from her, he used it to his advantage._

_One day, he approached the princess. “Hello there, Angelina. Beautiful day, is it not?”_ _he grinned. “Say, have you heard of the Heart’s Treasure?”_

“ _The Heart’s Treasure?” Angelina asked. “What’s that?”_ _ **“A dumb name for one.” “*chuckle* Rude little brat.”**_

“ _Why, it’s a treasure that lies in the far beyond. It’s said to gift whoever finds it their heart’s deepest desire.”_

_Maybe this was the answer, Angelina thought. Maybe with this treasure, she could find out what was missing. “Where is the far beyond?”_

“ _Oh! Why it’s through the Withering Woods, passed the Raging River and found in the Field of the Lost.”_

_That was all Angelina needed to go on her way. Even though she knew that the Withering Woods were said to be dangerous, she wasn’t afraid. She arrived at the edge of the woods and-_

“ _ **-And met a young handsome guy there who looked just like her, except taller**_ _ **and less cute**_ _ **.”**_

* * *

Andy and Dot looked up at the person who interrupted the story. They found Yakko standing by the doorway, Wakko waving sheepishly next to him.

“Hello boys. Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Andy questioned them.

“Shouldn’t you and Dot?” Yakko countered.

Andy chuckled. “Cheeky brat.” He shook his head. “I’m guessing you want in on the bedtime story, then?”

The brothers nodded and climbed onto the bed, making themselves comfortable. Andy thanked his luck that Kassie wasn’t a light sleeper.

“Let’s see, where was I?” Andy thought for a moment. “Oh, right!”

* * *

_Angelina reached the edge of the woods and was about to enter, when a mysterious strangers called for her to stop._

“ _Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on there, little missy.” **“I don’t sound like that!” “Hush Yakko, it’s just a story.”** The stranger stepped out of the bushes. He looked just like Angelina, but taller and less cute. **“That’s my line!” “You’re the one who suggested it.”** “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”_

“ _I need to get through the Withering Woods.” Angelina told the stranger. “I have to find the treasure in the Field of the Lost.”_

“ _You know no one ever makes it through the woods without a guide, right?” the stranger said. “They’ll get lost, or tricked by the creatures who live there, or worse.” Then all of a sudden, the stranger had a big smile on his face. “Luckily for you, I can get you through, but I’ll need something in return.”_

“ _Like what?” Angelina asked._

“ _Well, uuhhhh…-” **“You’re doing it wrong. It’s uuuhhhhh…”** “I was thinking a bit of that treasure of yours would hurt.”_

_They shook hands on it. “It’s a deal.”_

“ _The name’s Yakko, by the way.” the stranger introduced himself._

“ _And I’m Princess Angelina.” **“Too long. I’m just gonna call you Dot, said Yakko.” “Yakko!” “Yes, sister sib?”** **Andy shook his head, guess that’s part of the story now.**_

_And so, Yakko led the princess through the woods, avoiding as many dangers as possible. It went well, until they met the eyes of a troll right by the exit of the woods._

“ _If you want get passed me, you must answer these riddles three.”_

_Yakko pushed Angelina behind him. “Leave him to me. I grew up in these woods, I know exactly how to take him.” He stepped up to the troll. “Barney, old buddy. How are you doing? Listen, me and my companion over there need to get passed, so uuuhhhh… Could you just step aside for a moment?”_

“ _If you want get passed me, you must answer these riddles three.” the troll repeated._

“ _Uhuh. Uhuh. I hear ya. But here’s the thing.” Yakko got a dangerous glint in his eyes. “Do you really wanna go down that route again? Remember the last time you tried your riddles on me, buddy? Do you really need a repeat of that? Because I’ll happily help you.”_

_The troll gulped. “N-no, prince Yakko. Please, none of the head hurty anymore. I won’t cheat again.” he stepped aside, allowing the duo to pass. “Go on through.”_

_So Yakko and Angelina **“Dot.” “Angelina!”** exited the woods safely._

“ _ **Hey, how come Yakko’s a prince?” “Maybe because I’m incredibly charming?” “In your dreams.”**_

“ _Well, I’m not sure.” Yakko answered the prince question. “All I know is that I was born from a flower in the Withering Woods and the others who live there started calling me prince.”_ _ **“**_ _ **Lame.” “…Rude.”**_

_Their journey continued on safely until they came across the Raging River. Yakko dipped his hand in the water, to feel how fast and strong the current was, but instead was pushed back by a burst of water. You see, the water of the Raging River was alive and it never allowed anyone to pass._

“ _How are we supposed to cross this?” Yakko asked._

“ _Maybe we should ask nicely?” Angelina suggested._

 _Yakko looked at her as if she’d grown a second head._ _ **“Did she?” “No.”**_ _“_ _You really think that’ll work?”_

“ _Better than you’d think.” a strange voice said from behind them. The duo looked behind them, finding a boy sitting in a tree. “Hi there.” He waved at them._ _ **“Is that me?” “You didn’t think I’d leave you out, now did you?”**_

_The boy jumped out of the tree, walking up to the duo. “_ _I can help you across. I was born by the river, so it listens to me.”_

“ _ **By any chance, was he born from a flower?”**_

“ _Well, yeah. I was.” the boy answered Yakko’s question. “I’m Wakko, by the way.”_

“ _I’m Yakko, and this here is-”_ _ **“Dot.” “Angelina!”**_ _**“Oh come on, sis. All of us keep our real names.”**_

_Wakko walked back to the tree, pulling a sturdy wooden bridge from behind it. It definitely hadn’t been there before._ _**“Faboo! Just like my hammerspace!”** _ _He walked it over to the edge of the river and whistled sharply._

_The water rose and seemed to glare at Wakko, but he wasn’t afraid. “Excuse me, Raging River, but can you calm down so we can cross?”_

_The water listened immediately, so Angelina, Yakko and Wakko crossed the river safely. After Wakko hid the bridge behind another tree, the duo invited him to join them for the treasure._ _**“How come I had to ask and Wakko just gets invited?” “Because.” “That’s not a reason, Dot.” “Hey, hey, calm down kids. It’s just a story. Anyway-”** _

_So the trio finally made it to the Field of the Lost. It was surrounded by a huge fence, but that couldn’t stop them. Neither could the knight who was guarding the entrance._ _After shaking of the guard, the trio spread out to look for the treasure. However, they came up empty handed._

_A knight spotted the children and immediately caught them, holding them at sword-point. “Halt!” he said. “You are trespassing on sacred grounds! State your purpose!”_

“ _We-we were just looking for the treasure.” Angelina told him. “A man from my village told me that there was a treasure here.”_

“ _Treasure? There is no treasure here.” the knight informed them. “Now scram-”_

“ _My knight, wait!” The knight lowered his sword at the queens call. The queen walked up to the children, kneeling down in front of them. “What was this about a treasure?”_

_Angelina told the queen the entire story. How the man from her village said that there was a treasure that would give you your heart’s deepest desire._

“ _Well. I suppose that story is half true.” the queen said. “These-” she gestured to the field around her. “-used to be the Fields of birth. Whenever a queen desired a child, they would simply have to wish for it in the fields and one would be born from its flowers.”_

“ _Used to be?” Wakko asked._

_The queen nodded solemnly. “Many years ago, a foul maiden of the castle grew jealous and wished for a child of her own. But when she did not get what she wanted, she burned the field. She stole the seeds of the birth flowers and fled.” she sighed. “The maiden was caught, but many seeds were lost and the field had lost it’s magic. No matter how hard we wish now, no child is ever born_ _from the flowers_ _in the field.”_

“ _But…But I was born from a flower!” Angelina exclaimed. “And so are they!”_

_The queen looked shocked. “Truly? That’s a pretty bold claim. May I see prove of that?”_

“ _Prove?”_

“ _Yes.” The queen took off her glove, showing the children a flower shaped patch on the palm of her hand. “Like this.”_

_The children each showed their similar marks. Yakko showed the one he found years ago on the underside of his foot. Wakko pulled down his shirt to show the mark on his chest. And Angelina removed her own glove, showing the mark on the back of her hand._

_The queen was ecstatic. They really were flower-children. With no further hesitation, the queen led the children into her palace, where the children would be well taken care of for the foreseeable future._

_And the mean villager? Well, he got his just deserts when he discovered that the child he tried to get rid of was now a tried and true princess._

“ _ **But of course, the queen didn’t take care of the children all by herself. She had her lovely knight to help her every step of the way. And pretty soon, the princes and princess watched their new mother marry the knight, who now officially became their father. And they lived happily ever after.”**_

* * *

Andy snorted softly. “You just had to, didn’t you Kass?”

As drowsy as she was, Kassie couldn’t help but smile cheekily. “Come on, hon. We both know the knight and queen are gonna marry at some point.”

The children were now fast asleep in Andy and Kassie’s bed. The pair adjusted the kids’ as well as their own position in bed as to fit all of them.

“I personally think my knight would be a great king, and dad.” Kassie murmured sleepy.

Turning off the bedside lamp, Andy smiled. “And I personally think my queen makes a great mom.”

“Mhmm… Not unless the kids are okay with it, though.”

Little did they know, as they were drowsing off, that the siblings were still somewhat awake. _‘Mom and dad, huh…’_ they all smiled. _‘That doesn’t sound half bad.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Little did they know the Warners were okay with it, whoop!!)


End file.
